


While also drifting in eternity

by Estirose



Category: Highlander: The Series, Power Rangers, The Tomorrow People (1992)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2018-05-26 14:37:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 29,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6243304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of fics mostly featuring original characters. Some of these have only been available through the Wayback Machine. I'd like people to be able to find them more easily, even if it means sticking them on AO3 in one big lump for the moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Song My Father Sang (Power Rangers/The Tomorrow People (1992))

**Author's Note:**

> I thought at first that I should make the first "chapter" a list of all the fics, but in the end, I thought it best to just put them in the chapter listings with title and fandom. So, bear with me!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The newest set of Rangers are trying to live up to their parents' reputations, but that's not all they have to worry about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> isclaimer: The concepts and characters from Power Rangers (Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers Turbo) belong to Saban, who probably has no idea I'm borrowing them. The concept of the Tomorrow People belongs to Roger Damon Price, along with Nickelodeon, Thames Television, Tetra Films, and so on.
> 
> "The Song My Father Sang" is part of the "Opposites Attract" universe of stories. It is a second-generation story, in this case a second generation of Rangers, and it is set around 2024. It does deal with issues related to the Tomorrow People, but, like "But Keep The Old", is set more in the Rangers' end of things.
> 
> Many, many thanks to Mandi Ohlin for betareading, Michele Mason for betareading and for making me think about Rocky's offspring it the first place, and Julia H. for her own inspiring second generation Rangers, Gavin, Nisha, Olivia, Corry, Raph, and Jared. I hope I've done half as good a job with mine, Julia. :)
> 
> Note to PR fans: This story shares a couple of things with Ellen Brand's "Family Ties". However, I did not read that story until after I started posting this one, so any similarities are purely coincidental.
> 
> "A La Puerta Del Cielo" (At The Gates of Heaven) is a traditional song from Spain. The translation used in this story is by Eleanor Chroman, although I took the liberty of adding a word and changing a bit of punctuation.

"Hey, wanna join me for a game of baseball?" Teresa asked the young man walking beside her.

He wrinkled his nose. "No, thanks. Baseball isn't really my thing."

"Hmmfh. You're the one who's the son of a major-league pitcher. I would've thought that you would grow up loving baseball."

"Yeah, well you grew up with a teleporting Dad. That doesn't mean you're into teleporting."

"Teleporting is different. Not everyone can..." Teresa trailed off as the device on her wrist beeped. Her friend looked at her.

"Forrest here," the young man said.

"Forrest, Teresa, you've gotta get to the Power Room immediately! Regina's launched her latest monster on Angel Grove."

"We're on it," Forrest said. "Ready?"

"Ready," Teresa replied.

They disappeared in flashes of Blue and Yellow light.

* * *

"What is going on?" Forrest asked as he and Teresa materialized. The rest of the team were at various consoles. He stepped out of the way as Ian nearly crashed into him.

Lucas answered, a grim expression on his face. "Regina's got a nasty one this time. The Pillorator."

"It's chaining up citizens everywhere," Cecelia reported.

"We've got to stop it before anything worse happens," Lucas responded. "It's Morphing Time!"

* * *

Lucas shot another ray at the monster while the others cleared out the chained-up citizenry littering the park. It wouldn't do them much good if they destroyed the local citizens while dealing with the monster.

A shot from the side indicated that Teresa had finished clearing her portion of the park and had joined him. A quick glance indicated that her bow was at the ready. He didn't worry much about her aim. She could outshoot any of them, even him. That's why she'd switched weapons with Cecelia.

The rest of the group joined in, and the monster was nearly defeated. Until, of course, Regina had him enlarged.

* * *

"They're getting tougher," Lucas said as he downed his chocolate-cappuchino shake. "We've got to be prepared better next time. The Pillorator did a lot of damage to the MegaZord."

"Face it," Cecelia replied, sipping her own shake, "We don't really have the training. Even with what the suits give us, we still are barely managing. Except for maybe Teresa."

"It's not exactly a walk in the clouds, even for me," Teresa replied. "Besides, that's why we're all learning martial arts, Cece."

"Hey, you're Ms. Perfect Athlete. Why should you have any problems?" Cecelia asked.

Lucas caught the bitter tone in her voice, and moved to stop the impending argument.

Teresa beat him to it. "I'm not perfect, Cece. You should know me better than that."

"You try to be," Cecelia insisted.

"Cece," Lucas said, "It's Teresa's choice to do what she does. If she's got an interest in sports, than that's her right."

Cecelia looked unmollified, but dropped the conversation, and just frowned at Teresa. At that point, one of their classmates stopped at their table. "Heyay, Terri, aren't you supposed to be at archery practice?"

Teresa withdrew her organizer from her bag, activated it, and thumbed through it. Lucas saw her eyes widen. "Yeah, thanks Jed. All, I need to go."

"You're welcome," Jed said, and hurried off.

"One of those days when you wish you could?" Forrest inquired, a mischievous smile on his face.

Teresa paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Nah. Tempting, but not worth the price."

She walked away at a fast pace. The rest of the team watched her go, and then Forrest spoke. "She's really not trying to beat all of us out. She really is just interested in athletics."

Cecelia shrugged. "I know. It's just that I feel so clumsy next to her. She may not be trying for that, but sometimes it seems like it."

"She told Dad once that she got into all her sports because they let her be alone," Ian said.

"How do you get to be alone when you're part of a team?" Cecelia asked.

"I don't know," Ian replied. "She didn't elaborate."

"Maybe you should talk to her, Cece," Lucas said. "You won't get to know her unless you do."

"Believe me, there's a lot going on with her than what's obvious," Forrest added. "You know the old saying, 'you can't understand someone unless you've walked a mile in their shoes'? Well, that applies here."

"You all think that I'm being an idiot in all this, don't you?" Cecelia asked.

Lucas put his hand on her shoulder. It probably wouldn't make much difference, but maybe it would make Cecelia hear him. "We're just saying that you shouldn't judge her until you understand why she does what she does."

Cecelia tilted her head, as if thinking. "Well, since you guys won't let me up until I do so, I guess I'll have to."

Ian spoke up. "We're not forcing you to do anything, Cecelia. It's just, well, that Teresa has her own reasons for doing what she does."

"Okay, I'll talk to her," Cecelia replied.

* * *

Teresa frowned as she saw Cecelia approaching. The other girl had never done so before, and had shown no inclinations of doing so even after they became Rangers. Oh, they got along, but only superficially. Cecelia might trust her to watch her back in combat, but they weren't friends, by a longshot.

Which meant, of course, that Lucas was probably behind Cecelia's presence. Certainly he wasn't beyond lecturing her about such things. She didn't mind Cecelia coming to her, but she would have preferred that the girl come on her own, without prompting by Lucas.

"Hi," Cecelia said. Her greeting and posture were awkward. Teresa knew for certain that this wasn't her own idea. She made a mental note to talk about it to Lucas later. If he didn't go and make her feel guilty.

She smiled and tried to put her teammate at ease. "Hi. Let me guess, you got a lecture from Lucas about being patient and trying to understand me?"

Cecelia blinked. "How could you tell?" she asked.

"I've seen the expression before. It's what happens when Lucas browbeats someone into discussion. Don't worry. He does that to everyone."

"It wasn't just Lucas. It was Forrest and Ian as well."

Lucas must have been particularly impressive, or Ian and Forrest had both been feeling gallant. "I suppose we better do something about that."

"Yeah, could you please tell me about yourself or whatever so that I don't have to hear about it again?"

Teresa laughed. "I'll tell you all about myself. And then I'll have a word with the guys."

Cecelia's expression lightened and she stopped looking so awkward. "Great! So, what do you say, I buy you a drink and you explain some stuff to me? It would be great to have a scoop on the guys."

Teresa broke out in a grin. "You got it."

As they turned to leave, they were attacked.

* * *

"You think those two will really talk?" Ian asked. "I mean, Cecelia's stubborn, Teresa's stubborn. They're probably just standing there glaring at each other."

"Teresa knows enough to talk," Forrest replied, smiling a little. "She knows that we'll just inflict her with Lucas until she does."

Their communicators beeped. "Uh, oh," Ian said quietly. The three moved off to a deserted hallway. Lucas activated his communicator.

"This is Lucas."

"Yo, Lucas, Cecelia and Teresa are being attacked."

"Right," Lucas said. He wondered if he should have really pushed Cecelia into talking to Teresa. Then he realized it didn't matter. They were two convenient targets. The bad guys probably would have attacked if it had been him there with Teresa. "It's Morphing Time!"

* * *

The two girls had found themselves with an unexpected foe. Oh, Teresa reflected, Regina's henchmen, moulded on the putties of old, weren't so bad, but the silver things with the shutter-type things on their chest weren't as easy to beat.

"Finally," Cecelia muttered as the guys teleported in. Teresa was happy for the help too. Until they got the handle on the shutter-things, they needed to be together.

The guys looked mildly startled when they confronted their opponents, but soon leaped into the fray.

* * *

"What *were* those things?" Lucas asked after the five arrived in the Command Center. Ian had moved over to one of the computer panels, no doubt in order to study the battle.

"I don't know," Cecelia said. "At least you missed the part with the gas."

"Gas?" Lucas asked. "What gas?"

"Those things tried to gas us - I caught a whiff, and it made me kinda dizzy. That's when we morphed," Teresa said. "Whatever those things are, they wanted us alive."

"Rangers, would there be some reason why they attacked Teresa and Cecelia with the gas and not the rest of you?"

Ian looked up. "I can think of two things right away," he said. "One, they abandoned the gas when they saw it wasn't affecting them, or two, they were intending to kidnap Cece and Teresa, but we got in the way."

"In case that's what's going on, we'd better not leave them alone," Lucas said, already planning out the assignments. He heard someone clearing their throat.

It was Teresa. "We can take care of ourselves, thank you very much."

Lucas sighed inwardly. Teresa could be so stubborn about such things. He hadn't meant to imply that they couldn't take care of themselves, he was just worried about them. "I know you can. But maybe having other people will scare them off until we find out who we are facing," he said. "And we can't afford to have our team down one or two members if Regina attacks again. It's not impugning your fighting ability. I just want to be careful. Please?"

He threw his best pleading look at Teresa, knowing she'd give in. Sometimes practicality and puppy dog eyes were a *very* effective combination.

Her shoulders sagged, and he knew he'd won. "Okay," she said. "But only for a few days."

"I don't think it'll be more than that," Lucas replied. "There are three of us and two of you. We can swap."

"Besides," Forrest added, "It's not like it'll be to onerous or weird. We *do* hang around a lot together."

"Then it's settled," Cecelia said. "Teresa, you want to discuss what we were going to discuss later?"

Lucas thought they were referring to the talk that he had sent Cecelia and Teresa to have together, until he caught Teresa's giggle. "You bet," she said.

He had no idea what they met. He caught Forrest's eye. The other boy shrugged.

* * *

Teresa outpaced Forrest on their walk to school. She normally didn't do that unless she forgot and speeded up her stride, but she was feeling vindictive. Forrest had acted a bit too overprotective last night for her own taste.

"Teresa, wait up!" Forrest yelled to her. By that time, he was a good meter and a half behind her. She stopped, figuring that she might as well. Forrest was her friend. She turned around to wait for him. Suddenly, a set of figures popped up out of the blue. Regina's forces and the unknown shutter things. Teresa tensed, automatically going into a fighting position. She could see Forrest do the same.

Regina's forces swarmed around them. There were at least ten of her normal soldiers, with two of the shutter things. Teresa didn't stop to count. She just fought. Finally, however, two of the soldiers grabbed her arms, allowing the shutter-thing to gas her.

* * *

Teresa woke up with a splitting headache and an aching body. She felt like a ton of lead bricks had been dumped on her body. She opened her eyes to find herself in a metal room. A groan came from the right, and Teresa concentrated on turning her head to find out what was going on.

It was Cecelia, not looking much better than she felt. Cecelia's blond hair obscured her face, but she could tell that Cecelia didn't feel well. Must have been the effects of the gas. Really nasty stuff.

She pushed herself up and propped herself against a nearby wall. "Cecelia?" she asked.

Cecelia groaned. "What hit me?"

"I imagine the same thing that happened to me," Teresa said dryly. "Those things with the gas jets."

"Oh, yeah, I remember," Cecelia said. "They had to get me in the Bathroom. Lucas couldn't get in because I had locked the door, which is what I always do. At least I was dressed!"

Lucas, Teresa thought, was going to not be very happy. "I think they may have gassed Forrest. But I think that this was after they'd gotten me."

"So, what're we gonna do?" Cecelia asked. Teresa gazed around the room. She couldn't see any exits, and besides, she doubted she could move very far.

"How about having that talk Lucas wanted us to have?" she suggested. Probably dumb, but it would keep their minds occupied. Yeah, it would give information to their unknown enemy, but Teresa didn't think that really sensitive topics would come up.

Two of the shutter-things materialized in the room. "You will come with us," one of them said flatly, reaching over to handle Cecelia. Its companion had its arms around Teresa's shoulders and was lifting her up. She attempted to resist, but was still too weak.

* * *

Lucas banged his fist into the console and looked up just in time to see Ian wince. "Sorry Ian," he said. "I just can't believe this happened!"

"It's not your fault," Ian said, but Lucas noticed that he was staying out of arms' reach. That hurt Lucas. He took a deep breath.

"I was on the other side of the door! I should have been able to save her. I was lucky that Mr. and Mrs. Oliver didn't find out she'd been kidnapped."

"It's not like they would have fainted, Lucas," Ian said. "Use your mind. Cecelia's parents are former Rangers. They've handled much, much worse than this."

Lucas turned and saw Forrest sit up on the diagnostic bed. He rushed over to his teammate's side, Ian following behind. "Forrest? You all right?"

"I will be," the Blue Ranger said. "Did you get the liscence plate of that snowmobile?"

"You got gassed, Forrest. They gassed you and Teresa, and kidnapped her. Then they got Cece and gassed her," Ian replied.

"I hope for their sakes that they didn't gas Teresa heavily when they got her," Forrest said.

"Why?" Lucas asked. He could swear that Forrest was starting to smile.

"Because she's going to hecka ticked when she wakes up," Forrest replied.

* * *

Teresa and Cecelia were dropped to the floor in a rather posh hall. Cecelia blinked, hoping to wake up. She was hoping that everything was a dream, and knew it wasn't.

A man sat down in the chair in the middle of the room, in front of the rug where she and Teresa had been dropped. She couldn't describe him as handsome, but he wasn't ugly. He was dressed in a rather ostentatious uniform, of the type that the meglomaniacs in cartoon shows seemed to prefer. He was trying to look kindly but failing. His features were too demonic. "I am Malgrath, lord of seven galaxies. I am looking for a wife, and have chosen you two for your fighting skills. In order to choose between the two of you, you will fight each other. The winner will become my wife, the loser, my servant."

"And what if we *don't* want to join your household?" Teresa said, with a touch of annoyance.

Malgrath shrugged. "You don't have a choice. You are but women, and Regina assured me that she'd take care of any that would otherwise have a say in the matter."

"You'd be surprised," Teresa said, sounding unusually calm. Cecelia didn't know if Teresa's sudden change of attitude was good or bad.

Malgrath waved a hand. "I understand your loyalty to your own. Still, I will soon prove that I am the greater man," he said. He clapped his hands together, and then two humanoid servants appeared with goblets. He accepted one, and waved the two over. "Shall we toast, then? To a new relationship, hopefully rewarding to all."

Cecelia looked at her drink and took a careful sip. The taste was slightly cinnamon-like, kind of spiced apple cider, but only with a little apple in it. Teresa was just staring at it distrustfully. Malgrath seemed amused. "You might want to drink that, if you plan to regain your strength."

Teresa glared at him, but took a long drink. He chuckled. Cecelia continued to sip.

Malgrath said, "That's it. I like your attitude. You'll need it in the arena. Guards! Take them to the arena preperation room."

Cecelia and Teresa were taken away.

* * *

As the three male members of the Rangers continued to look for how to rescue Teresa and Cecelia, the alarms started up. The three groaned. "At least she's predictable," Forrest said.

"Right. Alpha?" Lucas asked.

"Yo, yo, yo, look at the viewer," Alpha replied.

"Looks like somebody left their garbage out a bit long," Ian said, wrinkling his nose. He stared at the image on the screen. Regina had probably just chosen a monster at random to go after the depleted team, but that random monster just happened to look like a pile of rotting garbage. He doubted it smelled much better. At least it looked like it wasn't going to hurt to be missing their best shooter. Anybody could probably hit the thing. He looked over at Lucas.

Lucas had straightened up, an angry expression on his face. "As Forrest said, they're hoping to take advantage of the fact that we're missing Teresa and Cecelia. Let's show them wrong. It's Morphing Time!"

* * *

"Teresa?" Cecelia asked. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Teresa said. "Either we're regaining our strength on our own, or that was really an antidote to the gas."

"I'm guessing the antidote," Cecelia said.

Teresa smiled. "You're better at chemistry than I am, so I'll trust you on that one."

"I guess," Cecelia said. "How are we going to get out of here?"

Teresa shook her head. "I don't know."

"You don't have a plan?" Cecelia asked, somewhat sharply.

Teresa sighed. She was getting a bit tired of Cecelia's not understanding. "I'm not super-athlete or superbeing, you know. It takes time to think of things."

"Sometimes it seems like you are," Cecelia replied.

"I'm not. Did I tell you why I got into sports?" Teresa asked. It was probably an odd time to have Lucas' "talk", but it was a better time than any of the late. It would keep Cecelia's mind off of the upcoming fight, and help her understand why things were like they were.

"No," Cecelia said. Her eyes were full of questions.

"Well, it's a long story. Do you know about my Dad?"

"Um, that he was a Ranger once and can teleport without any help, and that's about it. Oh, and he served with both mom and dad."

Teresa smiled. "Well, he can do a little bit more than teleport. That same gift makes him telepathic. He's spent my whole lifetime plus in a community of telepaths."

"So?" Cecelia asked.

"Well, to put it mildly, that's quite a different culture to grow up in. I've been growing up here in Angel Grove, and also there, with them. With all of us children of Rangers, everyone tends to see me as the daughter of a Ranger. There, I'm my father's daughter - a member of the community and potential telepath. Nobody really sees me as both. This got really bad when I first hit adolescence. That's when I got involved in sports - I found out that I was good at them, plus they were a way to get away from everyone. I practice a lot because it both gives me a chance to be alone, and to be with people who don't know a thing about my background or heritage, which is very refreshing. The people on the baseball team know I'm a good outfielder and hitter, and my friends on the archery team admire me for my skill. They don't get up and personal with me, and I like it that way."

Cecelia had her mouth slightly open. She shut it, and appeared to think. "But you're still a good athlete!"

Teresa thought she could see the problem. "I practice because, as I said, it gives me time to be alone. It's not because I'm trying to show people up, it's because I like to. People don't question it. I'm me. Everyone is happy."

Cecelia sat there quietly. "I guess that's what Lucas and the rest were trying to tell me, huh?"

"I think so," Teresa said. At least they had that problem solved. Now, if she could only get Cecelia's problems out of the way, which would save her from one of Lucas' lectures. "Even they don't understand, though. They think they do, but they don't. Now how about you?"

"Huh?" Cecelia asked.

"You're not the only one that Lucas thinks has problems getting along. So, how about you? What's causing you problems?"

"With what?" Cecelia stretched her legs out.

"Whatever's giving you problems with me being an athlete," Teresa replied. "He gave me and Forrest a hard time about it when we had problems like that, and we were close friends, we thought."

"Why would Forrest have problems?" Cecelia asked, a questioning look clear upon her face. "You two are buddy-buddy."

Teresa smiled, thinking of that particular problem. "Not always. When I got into athletics, I got into baseball, and soon I was doing better than he was. Now, normally Forrest's a pretty laid-back guy, but this was one of his private sore spots."

"I didn't know Forrest was chauvinistic!" Cecelia exclaimed. "I've never had any problems with him about me being female and being a Ranger."

Teresa had to smile at that. "He's not. Okay, not mostly. He had a few problems like that, but they were minor ones. He wasn't having a problem with a woman being a better athlete than he was, it was that he was jealous about me being a better baseball player than he was."

"I thought he was pretty good," Cecelia murmured.

Teresa smiled wider. "He is, he just can't see it. Anyway, Forrest thought he had to live up to his Dad's reputation. You know his Dad is Theo Somerton, the baseball player? That's what caused the problem, and looking back, I'm glad that Lucas stuck his nose in where it really didn't belong."

Cecelia giggled. "That sounds so funny, and so Lucas," she responded. She looked at her fingernails. "Maybe I should talk to Forrest more often. It sounds like we have a ton in common."

Teresa noticed the change in Cecelia's mood. "Do you regret being a Ranger, knowing that you have a lot to live up to? I mean, with your Dad being the longest serving leader of the Rangers? I find it scary sometimes, and my Dad was never in command."

Cecelia appeared to think. "I suppose so. It's just kind of another daunting thing about Dad, I think."

"Your dad is daunting to be around?" Teresa asked. She'd never really spent much time around Mr. Oliver, although her father had told her stories about him.

"Dad and Mum, well, they're both athletes and I never did well in athletics at school. I was never interested. They should have switched you with me, they would have loved to have you as a daughter."

Teresa tried to imagine herself as the daughter of Tom and Katherine Oliver and failed. "I wouldn't be who I am if I was their daughter," she said softly. "I would never have been driven into athletics if I didn't have so many idiots to deal with." She stretched nervously, hoping that what she said next was right and would help fix the problems they were having. "You're right. I wouldn't want to live up to their reputations either. And I can see why you're having problems with me. As I said before, I'm not into athletics so that I can show people up, I'm there to stay sane."

"It wasn't your fault," Cecelia replied. "I jumped the gun."

"Yeah," Teresa said, but she still felt badly. She had to do something about her reputation. She pounded the wall in frustration. She really wanted to get out of there and talk to Lucas or Dad about it.

"What's taking them so long?" Cecelia asked.

"Probably want to see if we strangle each other and make the choice easier," Teresa replied. "Or maybe the idiot's changing his mind."

"Maybe we can teleport out of here," Cecelia said brightly. "He left us our communicators."

"Probably because the area's shielded and they wouldn't be of much use," Teresa replied absently. "It's times like these where I wish I could really teleport."

"Like your Dad, huh?" Cecelia's voice was sympathetic. "Look at it this way: it might happen and save us."

Teresa felt a wave of gloom descend upon her. "Uh, not really. Dad didn't start teleporting until after he left the Rangers. The theory is that being a Ranger blocked the process. If I wanted to find out, I'd have to leave the Rangers, and I don't want to do that. Plus, I don't know if I'll ever have the powers. And if I do turn out to have the powers, my career as a Ranger is over. The price my Dad paid for being able to teleport was being unable to kill, and that ended him being a Ranger, too."

"Ouch," Cecelia replied. "So, you don't want to teleport then."

Teresa shrugged. "Maybe someday I'll choose to place my power in safe hands, and then I might be a little bit less opposed to it. Right now, however, it's not worth it."

Cecelia didn't respond. Teresa also fell quiet, until the guards came to take them into the arena.

* * *

Ian almost struck his fist into the console. Then he remembered it wouldn't do him any good. He wondered if his father had ever hit the consoles before. His mother didn't strike him as likely to do that.

He adjusted his jacket. It was a little bit too warm for it, really, but he liked it. Besides, it reminded him of why he was here. It had been Teresa's idea. She'd declared if he wasn't going to be loud himself, his clothes might as well be. He'd personally liked it. It made him look rebellious, and better, his parents had disapproved, saying it made him look like a gangster with his build. He thought he looked quite fine, thank you very much. If he was going to get his mother's skin colour and his father's looks, he was going to make the most of them.

He wondered if Teresa knew he'd had a crush on her since seventh grade. Probably not. She was too busy looking at Forrest and Lucas. Good thing Lucas didn't know about his feelings towards Teresa, since he'd probably urge his friend to express them, and that wasn't Ian's way. Things would turn out okay. He existed despite his dad's shyness.

"Anything?" Lucas asked.

"Not really," Ian answered. "Wherever they are, they're being shielded. They probably can't teleport out, either."

"Teresa can handle herself," Forrest said. "We all know she can."

Forrest's declaration did not fool Ian, and he could tell that it didn't fool Lucas, either. Despite the fact that Teresa could probably pound any of them into the ground, they all worried about her.

But, he reminded himself, she was as stubborn as a mule.

Suddenly, he wasn't as worried about her.

* * *

Cecelia and Teresa were thrust into the arena. Cecelia lost her balance after a final push by her guard, and fell down in a heap. She noticed Teresa had recovered and remained on her feet. She felt a brief wave of envy and then reminded herself that this was a battle situation. She didn't have time to worry about her agility compared to Teresa's.

Malgrath was sitting on a small balcony with another of his kind, probably an adviser of some kind. She wondered what kind of fight it would be. They probably wouldn't have them fighting one another as it had been made clear that neither of them really wanted to do that if the only privilege was marrying him. Maybe he'd give one or the other a potion to make them temporarily evil.

Six others of Malgrath's kind filed into the arena, and she suddenly knew what Malgrath's game plan was. She tensed, and saw Teresa do the same, falling into a battle stance.

Malgrath made a motion, and the battle began. Teresa hissed, "Back to back!"

She instinctively faced away from Teresa, knowing that the other girl was right behind her. This was good. They could defend themselves. She kicked at her first attacker, swept the second off his feet, and then knocked the first one into the third one. Behind her, she could hear Teresa fighting off her attackers and humming. Cecelia didn't recognize the tune, but it really didn't matter. Teresa seemed to be using the melody as rhythm while bashing attackers. She wondered why Teresa didn't sing in battle. Or hum, for that matter.

Soon, the fight was over. Malgrath and his advisor talked to each other, and finally, Malgrath uttered a command to the advisor. The man bowed. Then, Malgrath suddenly bowed to them. It was only a slight bow, but it was a bow.

The guards then took them out of the arena and then took them into a room. The man who had been with Malgrath was there, as was a table full of food. The man bowed slightly, although more deeply than Malgrath had, and then offered them towel-like things. "Wash," he said. "Sit. Your lord will attend shortly."

Cecelia looked at Teresa. Teresa shrugged and took the towel-thing, starting to clean herself off. Cecelia decided that it was probably safe to do the same. Malgrath came in while they were both still wiping themselves off. He motioned them to chairs.

Again following Teresa's lead, Cecelia sat down. Malgrath spoke. "You both did well, and I am honored by your fighting skills," he said, as if they had chosen to fight. "However, I only need one wife, and I have chosen Teresa, who is the better fighter. However, Cecelia, you also have a warrior's spirit. I will find you a good husband among the ranks of my warriors."

Cecelia inwardly cringed, and wondered if the guy really thought he was doing them a favour. He did seem like a relatively nice guy for an evil alien, but a bit misguided. Malgrath turned to Teresa. "Now, I have something that I want to clarify before the wedding. You mentioned something about a possible genetic condition that might prevent you from being a warrior if it became active. I was startled to find that you fight despite that. I am sorry that you carry that gene. I could order my scientists to find the portion of your genetic code that would prevent you from being a warrior, yet retain the parts that would allow you the other benefits. Regina would surely allow me to stay on Earth long enough to find others with that condition and cure your problem."

"I do not want to be cured, and you are certainly not going to abduct *my* people to 'fix' me!" Teresa declared. She stood up.

"You are their champion?" Malgrath asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Somebody has to be," Teresa replied.

Malgrath nodded. "I will not fight you for them, then. You are about to be my wife. However, will you not reconsider, for any children that we might have?"

"From what I know of genetics," Teresa said calmly, although she had started pacing around the room, "I don't think our kids have anything to worry about. The worst that would happen would be that they'd carry it. I doubt you carry the mutation, as it seems to be a strictly human one. Besides, I don't want it removed. I doubt I could fight as well if it were gone. Why are you even asking me this, anyway? It's not like you've given me much choice so far."

"I may have given you a bad impression, my lady," he replied. "Apparently our customs are not yours. Kidnapping a bride is quite acceptable, but the bride is given many freedoms after her marriage. I've never found a bride I wanted among my own people, and was searching for one when Regina, who does occasional trade with my nation, notified me of the existence of the two of you, and suggested that either of you would make a good wife. All I had to do was take both of you away with me."

Cecelia looked over at Teresa, who was still pacing around the floor. Malgrath had gotten up, no doubt thinking that her pacing was an odd human custom. Teresa looked at him. "And suppose I don't want to marry you?"

Malgrath looked a bit puzzled. "But you have no *choice*," he said. "But you don't need to worry. I'm a honourable husband. I will otherwise respect your wishes and your judgment."

Teresa sighed. "I see your viewpoint, but -" she said, and then knocked one of the guards out. The other one leapt at her, and then they started fighting.

Cecelia decided to follow Teresa's example, stood up, and punched Malgrath. It took a little doing, but then he was unconscious. His whatever, the person who had handed the towels, attacked her, and she handled him easily.

By that point, Teresa had tied the first guard up and was starting to tie the other. "You wanna go?" she asked.

Cecelia grinned. "You have to ask?"

They ran through the corridors, hoping they'd find someplace that they could teleport from. Every so often, they stopped and activated their communicators, hoping that they would find a clear space to contact their friends. Finally, they did. "This must be some sort of transporter room or something that they can't shield," Teresa said. "But anyway, I'm not getting fuzz."

Cecelia tried her own communicator. "Alpha? Dimitria?"

Lucas' voice responded. "Cecelia? Are you and Teresa all right?"

"We're fine, Lucas, stop worrying," Teresa responded, activating her own communicator. "However, we'll be very happy to be back. Can you trace our signals and teleport us?"

"Sure thing, Teresa," Alpha responded. A moment later, they were streaking towards Earth, and towards home.

* * *

Teresa watched in amusement as Lucas enveloped Cecelia in a crushing hug. "I'm sorry," he said.

Cecelia shrugged. "There's nothing you could have done."

Lucas shook his head, but didn't seem to want to debate it further. Instead, he hugged Teresa to him, very tightly. "Lucas, I need to breathe."

"Sorry," he said, and loosened his grip.

"You worry too much, Lucas Scott," she said, grinning.

He grinned back, and then released her. "Maybe."

"We're both tough," Cecelia added. "She's right. You don't need to worry."

"You think he'll come back? Try to kidnap you again?" Forrest asked.

"Not after what we did," Teresa replied. "Besides, he turned out not to be such a bad guy. We'll fill you in later."

"Okay," Forrest said, sounding somewhat reassured.

"I thought that you'd get out of that. You were too stubborn to stay kidnapped," Ian said quietly.

Teresa had to smile. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ian," she replied, and hugged him. When she released him, he looked simultaneously happy and embarrassed. Good old shy Ian.

Celia sighed. "Now, how are we going to explain missing school?"

* * *

A few days later, Cecelia was walking to the park with Teresa. Considering how many problems they'd had only a few days ago, they seemed to be getting along well, at least Cecelia thought so. Lucas seemed to think so too, because he hadn't nagged either of them.

"How are things going? Obviously, your parents didn't ground you," Teresa said.

Cecelia laughed. "No, but it was rough going for a while. I took my communicator off, so they wouldn't notice. They'd worry too much if they knew. So, I sat there for a better part of half an hour , listening to them lecture at me. I wouldn't tell them why I'd not showed up at school, but I promised I wouldn't do it again. That's why I'm not grounded, but I think Mum and Dad are going to be keeping a close eye on me for a while. It's probably not going to take them that long to figure out I'm a Ranger, though. How about you?"

Teresa shrugged. "Dad knows I'm a Ranger, so I just told him the truth. He didn't seem too alarmed."

"He knows?" Cecelia asked. "How could he know?"

"Some things just do not remain secret when you're dealing with a community of telepaths. When I became a Ranger, and someone found out, it was big news. Dad's a telepath, so he heard. He doesn't have a problem with me being a Ranger."

Cecelia whistled. "I wish I had your dad."

Teresa just smiled.

Cecelia thought of something that she'd had meant to ask for the last few days, ever since they'd been on Malgrath's ship. "By the way, I've never heard you sing or hum in battle before."

Teresa shrugged. "I don't, normally. But I was thinking of my Dad, and how mad I was to be there, and somehow I ended up humming it. It's not really a fight song."

"What is it? What is it called?" Cecelia asked. Her curiosity had been piqued. It certainly sounded like a fight song to her.

"It's called 'A La Puerta Del Cielo'. The English translation of it is 'At The Gates of Heaven'. It's a lullaby my dad used to sing me a lot when I was little, and he still sings sometimes when I've had a particularly bad day, because he knows I love hearing it. It goes something like this in English: 'At the gates of heaven, they sell shoes for the angels, for the little angels who wander there barefoot.' It's an odd little song, but I like it."

"You're right," Cecelia said, running the words through her mind. "It is an odd song. Did your dad have to sing it to you after you got back?"

Teresa shook her head. "No. I mean, that was kind of scary, but it wasn't something I needed comforting for. That's reserved for really bad days. The last time he sang it was right after we got our Ranger powers and Lucas decided to have a really big argument with one of my telepathic friends over me and my future. I didn't like that too much."

"What happened?" Cecelia asked. She wondered why Lucas would have that kind of argument.

"Well, I was waiting for Lucas, because we were going to work on a project together for school. One of my telepathic friends, Melissa, showed up to talk. We ended up having an argument about me being a Ranger. Y'see, most telepaths don't understand violence and killing much at all, nor why someone would choose that instead of being a telepath. Lucas decided to show up in the middle of the argument, went into overprotective mode, and started arguing with her about the worth of being a Ranger. Neither of them was paying attention to me, and both of them had quite forgotten, or at least forgotten more than usual, that I wasn't one or the other, but both. I excused myself and bolted out of the house. By the time I got back, I found a note from Lucas apologizing for what he'd done. I was still in a foul mood when Dad came home from work, so he ended up singing me to sleep."

"I knew that Lucas could argue, but I didn't know like that!" Cecelia exclaimed.

"He can do anything when he gets into over-protective mode, watch out," Teresa said, sounding a bit sad. "He still has problems with my telepathic friends because of that argument. He's kind of like Malgrath - he couldn't quite understand that I wouldn't be who I am if I wasn't both."

"At least we don't have to worry about Malgrath anymore, hopefully," Cecelia said, feeling a slight bit uncomfortable about the topic of conversation and switching it.

"I doubt it. And I hope not. We have far too much to worry about," Teresa replied.

They kept on walking.

-The End


	2. Two Sides, Same Coin (Opposites Attract futurefic, Power Rangers/The Tomorrow People (1992))

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, you can find love with someone you'd never expected to be in love with.

Ian lay on the picnic blanket. Despite the fact that it was early January, he was dressed in a t-shirt and shorts. Beside him, Olivia dozed. She looked so cute there, sound asleep in the Australian sunlight. But soon, they'd have to go home, her to the east coast, himself to the west.

He couldn't believe he'd fallen in love with her. Olivia was a Tomorrow Person, a peaceful telepath. He was a Ranger, a warrior who fought to save the world. Yet, it had almost been love at first sight. He'd brought up the topic, she'd smiled and said, "Ian, it really doesn't matter. I've been around Teresa long enough to know that we're not mutually exclusive."

Ah, yes, Teresa. Ranger teammate, early crush, potential Tomorrow Person. They'd gotten along so well because they were both of multiple heritages. His had been more obvious than hers. Part asian, part white, part black, but looking as black as his mother. But Teresa had understood. Teresa's worlds didn't have anything to do with the color of her skin, but a conflict in worlds that nobody knew existed. Nobody but maybe a small percentage of the population. Perhaps that was why she balanced them so well.

He wasn't surprised that he'd fallen in love with her. Graceful, athletic, good-looking. A person that his parents knew well and wouldn't have problems with. Problem was, she'd never noticed him as more than a friend. At least he wasn't alone in that - she'd never noticed Lucas mooning over her, either. And Lucas would be a better choice for her, anyway. Ian was far too quiet for her.

Ian was definitely surprised when Olivia had agreed to the date. He knew that Olivia was one of the least judgemental of Teresa's friends, but he hadn't known if her tolerance had extended to actually dating a Ranger. It had. And, actually, both the Tomorrow People and the Rangers approved when they'd started dating. Surprising, actually, for both Lucas and Melissa. Actually, Melissa just had problems with Teresa being a Ranger and with Lucas' attitude. She didn't have trouble with Ian, personally.

But Olivia had been the only one he felt free to discuss Teresa with. They both knew what might happen to her, and both could understand her desire not to be forced to be one or another.

It was amazing what they had in common. Olivia was also mixed-race, white with some asian ancestry. In fact, she was kind of like him, one-fourth Korean. Except she looked white. But that wasn't all they had in common. Both were quiet, moderate. Both didn't always agree with their leaders, but didn't feel the need to be noisy in their opinions. Talking to her was like talking to a slightly different version of himself. In fact, she was more like him than Teresa was- just a slightly different side of the coin. And a beautiful one at that, he realized as he gazed at her.

Ian brushed a lock of Olivia's hair out of her face. She opened her eyes and smiled. "Love you, Ian."

"Love you," he echoed.


	3. Expected Changes (Opposites Attract, Power Rangers/The Tomorrow People (1992))

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina's newest plan leaves the Rangers trying to cope with a change in their members.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Concepts and some characters are not mine. The concept of "The Tomorrow People" belongs variously to Roger Damon Price, Nickelodeon, Thames Television, and Tetra Films. The concepts and characters of "Power Rangers" belongs to Saban.
> 
> The characters of Teresa, Forrest, Lucas, Ian, Cecelia, Elise Creswell, and any others that obviously don't belong to Saban belong to me. This includes characters that have appeared in other stories in this serial. I ask that they not be borrowed without my permission.
> 
> End disclaimer.
> 
> Notes: This story deals majorly with both the TP and the Rangers, although you might not see very many TP in here. There is some mild violence in here, due to the nature of the shows I'm crossing over. PR fans might notice some minor discrepancies between this and PR canon.
> 
> Thanks to: Mandi Ohlin, for betareading and providing me with the idea for how to end this thing, Michele Mason for betareading as well as for putting up with me carping about uncooperative characters who kept messing up my plot, Mike Escutia and Caroline Fales for also listening to me moan about this at great length, Ellen Brand for the influence, and Julia H., whose second generation Rangers inspired my own.

"It's been far too quiet," Lucas said.

Teresa nodded. She knew that Lucas wasn't referring to the weather, although it had stopped raining about an hour before. None of Regina's forces had attacked in the last two months, no soldiers, no monsters, nothing. Dimitria and Alpha had confirmed that Regina was there, but she wasn't doing anything.

"I'd bet she's waiting for something," Forrest said. He tossed his stylus down.

The stylus bounced to the floor. Teresa retrieved it. She didn't blame any of her teammates for being frustrated. Even the normally easygoing Forrest seemed affected. Delays usually meant something rather nasty.

"But for what?" Lucas asked. It was a rhetorical question. Everybody on the team knew that. It wasn't a matter of *if* Regina would attack, but *when*.

Cecelia sniffled and blew her nose. Teresa sympathized. Her headaches were getting really bad. Hers didn't seem to be from a cold, though, but stress. Of course, given what she was, her headaches could be from another source, but she didn't think she had to worry about that. That wouldn't come until she had given up or lost the Power.

Ian slid into the seat beside her. "What's up?" he asked.

"The usual," Teresa responded, cracking a smile. Ian was practically bouncing. "How'd your date with Olivia go?"

"Great," Ian responded with enthusiasm. "We went over to this place in Brisbane that she knew about. The food was great. And there's this nice park near the university there."

Teresa had to smile at that. She didn't know how Ian had met Olivia, but the two of them were a terrific pair. And it had helped Ian as well. He, of all the Rangers, wasn't drowning in nervous energy. In fact, it seemed that he had become the spirit of the team. In his own, quiet way of course. Ian didn't do loud. "Which Brisbane?"

"The one in Australia, of course," Ian responded.

"Of course," Teresa echoed. Ian, of course, teleported frequently, but it was good for him to get used to the way the Tomorrow People worked, especially if he ended up marrying Olivia.

* * *

"You sure are quiet," Rocky DeSantos said to his daughter. Teresa was picking at her food. Rocky was worried about Teresa. Sure, she didn't have his appetite, but even Iz normally ate more than Teresa was doing tonight. He'd have to talk to Iz about it when she got back from her conference.

"I have a headache. A stress headache. I've taken aspirin for it, but it hasn't gone away and it's ruining my appetite. And the cause isn't helping."

Rocky nodded. He, too, had noticed the lack of attacks, but he'd also noticed the continuing presence of the communicator around Teresa's wrist. However, since it was so quiet, maybe he could take her out of town for a day or two and give her a chance to relax and forget. Dimitria surely wouldn't object. Teresa's communicator had been modified to work at long distances, as Regina sometimes liked to attack when Teresa was with a friend on the other side of the globe. "You'll pull through, honey."

Teresa sniffled. "Sorry, Dad, sometimes this is so hard!"

Rocky got up, came around the dining table, and hugged his daughter. She leaned against him. He wondered if he'd have to sing her to sleep again. "I know. Sometimes being a Ranger *is* hard. But you have to persevere. And you'll find the energy to do it, too."

"Thanks, Dad. I just wish I didn't have this headache. The only thing I know is that it's not a break out one, thank goodness. I don't think I could handle that, especially right now."

Rocky pulled his daughter closer, remembering a conversation in his living room not so long ago. He hoped that Alpha and Dimitria were very wrong. He didn't think that Teresa could cope with breaking out at this point, either. "Come on, let's see if we can find something to eradicate that headache."

Teresa looked up, smiling weakly.

* * *

By the morning, Teresa's headache had subsided to a dull roar. Probably the maximum strength stuff that her Dad had found her had actually helped. She hoped that the headache would go away.

At least it was Thursday. In two days, she would go on that picnic with Cheryl and Toby and have a chance to forget that she was an on-call superhero. Just a normal kid again, or as normal as one got when one's father and friends could teleport. She shifted her stuff around to find her notes for debate, her first class. She was still looking for her notes when the bell rang.

Cursing under her breath, she ran for class.

* * *

Teresa slowly made her way back to her debate teacher's classroom. She was not looking forward to explaining why she didn't have her notes for what was a major part of her grade.

Actually, the whole day had gone badly, not just debate. She'd fouled up a spelling quiz, flunked a history pop quiz, and almost fouled up a chemistry hands-on assignment. Good thing Lucas was paying more attention than she was.

She paused at the door of the classroom. Surely her debate teacher would not mind a few minutes for her to compose herself. She leaned against the wall, fished out a kleenex, and tried to compose herself. She'd rather be anywhere else but there at the moment.

A second later, she let out a cry as she splashed into the water.

* * *

"Great," Teresa muttered. "First my debate notes, then the rest of my day, now this! What else can go wrong?"

As if in answer, her communicator beeped. "I should have guessed," she sighed, and activated her communicator. "Teresa here."

"Yo, Teresa, where are you?" Alpha asked.

"Long explanation. What's up?"

"Lucas and Forrest are fighting Regina's troops, and they need help. You got to get over there as soon as possible!"

"On my way. Teresa out." Teresa removed her finger from the transmit button and looked around. What she really wanted to sit down and bawl her eyes out. Better yet, she wanted to go to her Dad and have him hold her while she bawled her eyes out. But duty called. "Besides," she muttered to herself, "I get to go out fighting!"

She summoned her morphers, morphed, and teleported out.

* * *

When she landed, she noticed that the others had arrived, and Forrest and Lucas had had a chance to morph. Alpha hadn't mentioned a monster. Perhaps it had arrived while she was in transit.

It turned its attention towards her. "Ah, Yellow Ranger. How good for you to join us. But are you so sure you want to fight?"

Something about the thing's attitude ticked Teresa off. It was as if Regina knew about Teresa's change, even before anybody else besides Teresa did. Probably had been monitoring her to see if the change would take place and then used it to her advantage. "Oh, if you want a fight, you've got one, buddy!"

As she engaged the monster, she heard Forrest mutter, "what's going on? What are they talking about?"

"Something that wasn't supposed to happen, Forrest," she commented as she kicked the monster.

Various mutterings assured her that not only had the rest of the team comprehended the situation, but were rather unhappy with it. The monster suddenly flew sideways as Lucas rammed into it. "Don't mess with my teammate!" he yelled.

Lucas' words suddenly buoyed Teresa up. At the moment, she was still a part of the team, and she had the rest of the team to back her up. "Let's send him back to Regina!"

"You got it," Lucas answered. Teresa could almost see his grin, hidden as it was by his helmet. They converged on the monster and Lucas quickly finished it.

* * *

Teresa dropped to the ground. Now that the euphoria and adrenaline from the fight were wearing off, she was feeling tired. She still wanted to go someplace and cry. Then she remembered that she still had a teacher to get to. "I'll be right back, you guys," she said. "I need to talk to Ms. Roberts about my work."

She demorphed and used the teleport mechanism on her communicator to teleport back to school. She didn't trust her teleporting ability quite yet.

* * *

Lucas was waiting outside Ms. Roberts' door when she finally got through discussing things with her debate teacher. "What are *you* doing here? Oh, yeah, I need a replacement. To find a replacement, I mean. I don't really feel like it, but it has to be done."

"Yeah, but mainly I'm here for you," Lucas said with utter sincerity. "You look like you're about to break down and cry."

"That's because that's what I want to do, really, but we really don't have time for that. Besides, I would have a hard time explaining why I was crying this hard."

"Come on," Lucas said. "Let's get back to the others before they start wondering what happened to us."

* * *

It hadn't been easy going to the others, but it had to be done. There was unfinished business to take care of that only she could do. So she bravely stood there and hoped she didn't shake too much.

Lucas' arm was around her shoulder, as if he was holding her up. Well, he was, in his own way. She dreaded having to do this. It was a good thing that she had a replacement in mind. "Elise. She's on the archery team, she knows how to fight, she's a really nice person."

"Sounds good to me," Lucas said. The rest of the team echoed him. "I'll go get her," he added.

He morphed and teleported out. Soon, he returned with Elise. "So, what is this about?" Elise asked the morphed Lucas.

"Turn around," he said. Elise turned around, her bobbed hair swinging.

"Teresa?" she asked. "Wait a minute, you're a Ranger?"

"Yeah. I'm a Ranger. And I need your help."

Elise's eyes widened. Teresa knew that Elise was a fan of the Rangers. "What can I do?"

"Something came up, and I can no longer be a Ranger. I know you'd be a good Ranger, so I had you brought here so that I could ask if you wanted to be one. You'll be in a lot of danger, a lot of fights, and so on, and there are a couple of downsides, but I think you'll handle them well. What do you say?"

Elise blinked. "Wow. I mean, sure! I'm honoured you chose me. What do I need to do?"

Lucas responded. "Alpha can swear you in while Teresa gets ready."

"Alpha?" Elise asked.

"Yo," Alpha responded. As he led Elise through the rules, Teresa looked at her communicator one last time, and tried to hold the tears in. Suddenly, she was aware of Alpha, Elise, and the rest of the team staring at her expectantly. Stifling a sniffle, she twisted her wrists to summon her morphers.

"Elise Cresswell, I give you the power of the Yellow Ranger," she said, trying to inject some formality into the proceedings so that she could drive her feelings away. Not a good time to break into tears. She unstrapped the morphers from her wrists. "Put them on," she continued.

Elise did so, and the morphers disappeared from her wrists. "Thanks," Teresa said. She had to get out of there.

"Come on, let me make you some fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches," Lucas said, slipping his arm around her. "They'll make you feel better."

Teresa shuddered. She had wondered what could be worse than the events of that day. Lucas' idea of gourmet had to be the worst. Still, she really didn't want to be alone.

She didn't protest as Lucas teleported them both out.

* * *

They were at Lucas' house. Lucas was rummaging through the cabinets in the kitchen, no doubt looking for where he'd put the peanut butter. She was mildly shocked when he gathered stuff that had nothing to do with peanut butter sandwiches. He must have see the look on her face, for he responded, "I figured you really didn't want the peanut butter and jelly."

Teresa smiled. "Not really. So, what do you have in mind?"

"You, me, a picnic in the park..."

Lucas was smiling adorably, which meant he was up to something. "You make this sound like a date."

"Nah, I just wanted to make sure you weren't alone. 'Sides, I wanted to talk to you."

"I'm not going to get out of this, am I?"

Lucas grinned. "What do you think?"

"I had to ask. Well, big brother, let's off."

* * *

"Are you okay?"

"What do you *think*, Lucas?"

"I had to ask."

Teresa lay down on the blanket. "Upset. Confused. Lucas, this wasn't supposed to *happen*!"

"I know," Lucas said, resting his hands on his chin. "I hoped it wouldn't."

Teresa did some mental cartwheels trying to figure out what he meant. "Do you know something I don't, Lucas?"

Lucas looked down. "Promise me you won't get mad?"

Teresa blinked. Lucas sounded like he had when they were both in fourth grade and he'd forgotten their joint project. "I'll try. Now, what is this about?"

"You promise you won't get mad?"

"Lucas, you know better than to ask me that."

"Okay, will you try not to fly off the handle at anyone when I tell you?"

"I think I can certainly try. Now, what's this about?"

"I knew this might happen."

Lucas sounded so down in the dumps and sorry that she almost wasn't mad at him. Almost. "And you didn't tell me? I assume you thought you had a good reason."

"I *did* have a good reason. Do you really think you would have been able to fight if you knew that you might break out?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't today any evidence that I would have? Lucas, I've known that I would possibly break out when I learned what Dad was and was old enough to understand. Yeah, I would have been unhappy, but I would have fought all that much harder."

Lucas rested his chin on his fists once again. "Be honest. Wouldn't that have depressed you, knowing that you would break out, Ranger powers or no? Would you really have been able to fight, knowing that that lay in store?"

"What have you been doing, Lucas? Receiving Malgrath's brain waves? I thought *he* was dense about some things. I'm *both*. I can't be one or the other. As a Ranger, I've also always been a Tomorrow Person. As a Tomorrow Person, I'll still be a Ranger. Never fully one or the other."

A tear escaped her. She really wanted to cry. Why couldn't anyone understand? If she could reliably teleport, she'd be home in an instant. She felt Lucas' arms around her. "Go on, cry. I may not be able to understand, but at least I make a good pillow."

She laughed, but it didn't come out well, so she just started crying. Lucas was right, he did make a good pillow. After a few minutes she stopped. "Lucas, you're really dense about some things, but I love you."

"Thanks. I think. I am sorry. Maybe you're right. I just didn't think you could handle it."

Lucas held her tight, and she found that she was relaxing. How had she not noticed this before? Lucas the stubborn was getting mushy. she kind of liked it. His eyes were closed, and she thought she could see tears brimming at the corners of his eyes. "Yeah. I'm sorry too. Even if you were a little dense."

"I guess I should tell you that I hoped that this wouldn't happen."

"That makes two of us," Teresa sighed. "How long have you known? And did anybody else know that this might happen?"

"About two months ago, and not very many people knew. Just me, Ian, your Dad, Melissa, and Olivia."

Teresa silently counted them off, and then stopped. "Regina obviously knew, too. How long before she went silent did you talk about it?"

Lucas's face contorted with concentration. "Not long. I remember having one attack after that, but then she went off until today."

"Great. Just great. Tell me everything that happened, from the beginning," Teresa ordered. She knew it wasn't Lucas' fault, or Ian's, or her Dad's, that this had happened. It was Regina's. But that didn't make her feel any better. Anger flared within her.

Lucas sighed. "About two months ago, Ian was looking at some scan records. Something was happening to yours, and he and Alpha couldn't pin them down, so he dug into the archives and picked up some of your father's scans, the ones during his time as a Rangers. He discovered some similarities between you father and you, but yours were different. It's like the process had started with him, but stayed at a steady level, until he left the Rangers. When he came back, he had what was apparently the standard readings for a Tomorrow Person. With yours, it was like you were changing slowly, so slowly that you might not notice it. Regina must have found a way to accelerate it somehow."

"Or just let nature take its course," Teresa muttered.

"Hmmm?"

"I'm not my Dad, Lucas," she said firmly. "I grew up in a different environment, where telepaths and telepathy were normal. Dad didn't. There's evidence that belief is a strong factor in how people are. People who become sick because they want to, even if they don't know that they want to. With me, I grew up with the fact that I might be a telepath - I've had it drilled into my head for longer than I can remember. Plus, I define myself as a Tomorrow Person, where Dad didn't know he was going to become one. Somehow, Regina must have figured that given enough quiet time, I might break out, Powers or no Powers."

"That could be it. Anyway, It worried Ian, so he called me, and I was worried about it, so we went and visited your Dad to talk to him about it. And then he thought that some of your friends might be able to help out, so we ended up with Melissa and Olivia."

Teresa laughed. She couldn't help it. Lucas and Melissa in the same room? And Lucas hadn't strangled Melissa? Wow. This was certainly making some odd bedfellows.

"What's so funny?" Lucas demanded.

"You and Missa in the same room and neither of you strangling each other, that's what," Teresa replied.

Lucas shrugged. "Hey, it was a good idea. You're always reminding us that you're culturally a telepath, might as well talk to someone who knew you at that end."

Teresa's thoughts wandered off on a tangent. "Speaking of which, was that when Ian met Olivia?"

"Yeah. Those two just somehow connected. I don't mind. Olivia is probably the only one of your generation of TP that I get along with."

Teresa grinned. "Well, now I'm another one," she said, snuggling closer to him.

He reacted by holding her closer. "Yeah. I guess I should get used to that now. Right now, I can't get my mind around the subject, though."

She shook her head. "Somehow, I don't blame you. I have a hard time, and it happened to me."

They just sat there for quite a while before Teresa got up out of his arms. "I should go home. It's going to be a long evening, even without having to tell Dad what happened."

"Teresa?"

"Yeah?" she asked, turning around.

"Don't tell him."

Teresa frowned. "Why in the heck shouldn't I? He has a right to know. He's my Dad."

"He's a telepath," Lucas said.

Her temper flared at him. There he sat, looking so earnest and adorable. She wanted to hit him. He had sounded like he finally understood her. "So am I now, if you haven't noticed, Lucas."

"Wait. Hear me out," he said in a pleading voice.

"I'm waiting," she replied.

"I did a lot of talking that day with your Dad and your friends, learning what it might be like to be a telepath, and what the telepathic community was like. Actually, I think I had a pretty good idea about it before that. But anyway, if anybody, even your Dad, finds out that you're a telepath, the entire population knows you're a telepath. I'm not saying that your Dad can't keep a secret, I'm just saying that maybe the information might leak somehow, like through his emotions or something."

Teresa took a deep breath. "It's possible," she conceded. "But it really doesn't matter in any event. There's no reason to hide the fact that I've become TP. I'm a member of the community now. Besides, I need to be taught how to use my new powers before they become annoying."

"Surely you can wait a day, or two, or three?" Lucas asked.

"Lucas, why do you want me to wait? Other than to not have to think of me as a Tomorrow Person, of course. I've got news for you: I am one. Nothing's going to change that."

Teresa turned away. Lucas put a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off. He put it back on again. "How about a chance to rest and readjust before you have to worry about it? You just left being a Ranger. How about a chance to think about where you've been and where you're going before you have to face it fully. Give yourself a chance to get used to the idea before your friends descend upon you joyfully."

She turned to face him again. He actually made sense. Lucas could be a stubborn idiot, but he sometimes came up with good ideas. "A day of rest. Okay, if only for both our sanities. We could both use it."

"Two?" Lucas asked. "You might want more than one. When I was seeing what impact this would have, I had a word with Dad. He told me what it felt like to give up your powers, since he'd done it twice. It takes a couple of days to adjust to not having the Power, and for the first day or two you tend to tire out because your body is still expecting the extra energy. I think he thought I was worried about myself, because he told me that he'd support me staying home the first day after it happened."

Teresa smiled slightly. "Okay, two. Dad might understand."

"Yeah. And remember to wear your communicator. You'll want to do that anyway, in case Regina decides to go after you. Oh, and no matter how awful yellow looks to you, wear it for a few more days to complete the illusion."

"Yes, mother," Teresa said, grinning. Lucas swatted at her, and then settled back on the blanket.

"Teresa?"

"Yeah?" she replied. Lucas' smile had been replaced with what could only be described as a contemplative look.

"What's it like, being a telepath? I don't think I've ever asked about that."

"I don't think I've really had a chance to notice, really," Teresa said thoughtfully. "I've been a Tomorrow Person for maybe a full hour, and I've had other things on my mind. Plus, I've always had really strong shields."

"Shields?" Lucas asked.

Teresa sighed, and then reminded herself that Lucas wasn't really always up on telepathic things. She thought she'd explained it to him once. Maybe he'd forgotten. "You know, the mental barriers that prevent telepaths from going crazy from having everybody's thoughts pour into their heads? Most telepaths develop them as they're gearing up to break out. Some non-telepaths develop shields too. I've always had a strong shield as long as I can remember. Most people can't 'read' me at all. Toby's Dad thinks it's because I may have accidentally had my telepathic circuts turned on for a short time when I was a baby, and I reacted by heavily shielding my mind. Other popular theories have to do with me picking up Dad's unhappiness at being a TP. Dad and I think it's just because I've always been stubborn. Ever since I became a Ranger, I've been hearing a lot about anything I've shown that might indicate that I was going to become a TP, from people trying to convince me that being a Ranger was not a good idea."

"I'm amazed you were still friends with all of that," Lucas said quietly. Teresa nodded bitterly. No matter how much she liked her TP friends, the whole Ranger issue had nearly torn her from them at the start. It had stopped for a while when her Dad had gotten on everyone's case.

"Compared to how they acted sometimes, you were an absolute angel, Lucas," she said. "Being hard to read sometimes has its disadvantages as well... they couldn't tell how badly this was affecting me. They thought I was just doing it to spite everyone."

"Nobody can read you?" Lucas asked. "Nobody could tell?"

"Dad could," Teresa replied sadly. "After I became a Ranger, it became fairly easy for him to read me. Power calls to Power, after all. Something about me becoming a Ranger opened a bond that neither of us understood. Still don't understand. He was able to convey some of it, knock sense into a couple of heads, and hold off the worst of it. Even if most of my friends weren't convinced this was the wisest course of action, they apologized to me. I'm surprised that Melissa never mentioned your meeting- she was one of the worst of the bunch."

Lucas shrugged. "I out-stubborned her."

Teresa broke out in giggles, then started laughing. Normally, Lucas' statement wouldn't be so mirth- inducing, but it had been a very long day.

Lucas grinned. "Go on, get home. Before you get in trouble."

"Thanks, Luc," Teresa replied. She ran off.

* * *

Rocky felt his daughter before he heard her quietly close the door. Her emotions were flaring to the point where any telepath in Southern California would probably pick them up, and probably get confused. There was anger in there, and sadness, but it was mixed in with kind of a euphoric love. He wondered if she was dating, and he'd never known it.

No, Teresa didn't act that way, and besides, he would have known. He wondered what had happened. "Hello, bonita. What's wrong?"

His daughter's face peeked around the doorframe. "Sorry, Dad. Didn't mean to bother you."

"You were projecting loud enough for people in England to hear you. So, what's wrong?"

"School."

Rocky waited patiently, hoping that Teresa was not going to hold out. She didn't. "I forgot my notes for the big debate in debate class. I was so worried that the rest of the day was a total waste. Lucas ended up taking me for a milkshake. Dad, when did Lucas get so handsome and so wonderful?"

Teresa sat down in the room, a faraway look on her face. So, that's why she was so euphoric. His little girl had fallen in love. Although he was surprised that it was Lucas that she'd fallen in love with. Those two had acted like they were siblings ever since they were practically out of diapers. He smiled at her. "Things like that happen. And I'm not too worried about your grades. You're apparently doing well enough in school, considering."

Teresa smiled. "Thanks, Dad," she said. Rocky smiled back at her. Quite a bit of her anger was fading away, and so was the sadness. The euphoria remained. Not all of the bad emotions were gone, however, and there was something she wasn't talking about. He didn't want to press her. He knew she'd tell him about it in her own time. He just hoped it wasn't sex, even though that wasn't likely it. Teresa and Lucas had grown far too responsible for that.

"If you want to talk about anything, I'm here," Rocky said.

His daughter launched from her chair and enveloped him in a fierce hug. "Thanks, Dad. I really mean it."

* * *

The next day, Teresa made her way to debate, with her notes. She was glad that Ms. Roberts had let her make up her assignment. She'd worked hard last night to prepare, knowing that she'd not be interrupted by the chime of her communicator.

She was wearing one of her favourite outfits, her most comfortable blue jeans topped by a soft yellow T- Shirt and a yellow-and-white striped sweater. Lucas had been right. She'd had to fight with her instincts in order to wear a colour that she'd been wearing for months.

* * *

"How'd debate go?" Lucas asked. He and the rest of the gang had joined her for lunch. She wasn't sure if she could use the company, but she'd welcomed them anyway.

"I think I impressed Ms. Roberts," she said. She wasn't lying. The teacher had been very happy with her performance. She could feel it when she'd handed her teacher the data file containing her notes. It was a little bit odd, picking up emotions. She hoped it would stop feeling strange soon.

"Good," Lucas said, and she could feel how happy he was. How happy they all were, actually, but especially with Lucas. "How are you holding up?"

"Better, actually. A bit tired, but if you're right, that's to be expected. I just hope that it doesn't mess up archery practice. I think Dad knows that something's happened, but he hasn't pressed me about it."

"I can cover you on archery practice today, if you get really tired," Elise offered. Teresa's replacement on the team was dressed all in yellow as well, and there was a communicator on her wrist. Teresa was happy for her, although like a lot of things today, it felt kind of odd.

Teresa smiled. "Thanks, Elise, but I think I'll make it. It's a bit tiring without the power, but I think that other factors are helping."

Elise shrugged. "Okay, just let me know if changes."

"Hey, Teresa, my sibs and I are going to make some homemade ice cream this afternoon. Want to join us for a feast?" Forrest asked.

Teresa's smile became a grin. Forrest knew she loved homemade chocolate ice cream. Besides, she needed to talk to him. Some things that she could talk to only him about. Like Lucas. "I'd love to, after practice."

Just then, everybody's communicators beeped. Except for hers, of course. Lucas frowned, and Teresa could feel the mounting anger in him. He'd wanted to talk to her more. The rest of the gang excused themselves, leaving her alone to wait.

Teresa winced as another imaginary pain shot through her. Actually, not imaginary at all, just not hers. It was Lucas' pain. She could feel him, feel his feelings as he fought against Regina's latest monster. It was weird, but kind of comforting in a way, to be feeling that way. He was fighting hard. She could feel his anger, his determination, and his pain.

She wished she could be there. She'd been forced to send a complete novice into battle, and knowing that the Ranger powers would protect her successor didn't help her much. She should be there, not Elise. She was a DeSantos. She didn't run away from battle. No, they just turned into telepaths that couldn't kill.

A happy feeling pushed the bitterness away. Again not hers. Lucas was celebrating. The team was celebrating.

The monster alert quieted, the all-clear sounded, and a minute later, the warning bell rang.

* * *

The monster alert had started again. Twice in one day. Regina must be trying to get the Rangers while Elise was still inexperienced. This time, Teresa could feel how tired Lucas was. But, like before, the Rangers defeated the monster.

As soon as the all-clear sounded, Teresa went to the where the school's archery team was setting up for practice. Had been, anyway. The others emerged from the gym. Elise wasn't there, but then Teresa wasn't expecting her to be. It occurred to her that she might have to cover for Elise if she was late getting back. Luckily, she didn't.

* * *

Elise came up to her after practice. The Junior had acted happy all throughout practice, and even now it was hard to tell that she was actually quite shaken inside. Teresa couldn't tell how the rest of the team was feeling, but she could detect Elise's true feelings, just as she could the rest of the Rangers'. Right now, her teammate needed to be able to drop the facade and talk. Teresa looked around and noticed most of the team was gone, and the few left were out of earshot. "You okay?"

The Junior shook her head. "My body feels like one giant bruise. I'm just so bad at fighting. I can't believe you picked me for a Ranger! I can't fight at all."

Teresa gave a short laugh. "Neither could most of us. You should have seen us in our first unmorphed fight. We were awful. At least when we were morphed, we got all the knowledge on how to fight. We spent the afternoon wondering if we could cover up all the bruises before our parents wondered if we'd gotten in a school fight."

Elise shrugged. "I noticed how easy it seemed after I'd morphed. But I still didn't feel like I was pulling my fair share. Last night, I pulled that documentary that I taped and watched you guys fight. You actually were one of the main fighters in all the fights I saw. When I fought today, Lucas and Ian kept having to protect me."

Teresa patted her on the shoulder. "You'll be fine. Everybody's pretty bad the first time they fight. My fight wasn't exactly what I would call terrific. It just all comes down to lots of practice. Have one of the others teach you to fight. Any of them would be glad to. Soon, you won't have a problem at all."

Elise sighed. "I could never fight as well as you."

Teresa swung the other woman around to face her. "Elise, you think I would have chosen you if I didn't think you could do the job. I've seen you, you can! What you're talking about is inexperience, not inability. All you have to do is the best you can and not beat yourself up for not being able to do more."

"I guess so," Elise said. Teresa could tell she didn't believe her. Well, maybe she'd sic Lucas and Forrest on Elise. Maybe at the same time, too.

They parted ways.

* * *

"Yeah, she sounds like she needs cheering up," Forrest declared. He, Teresa, and Ian were sitting in Forrest's kitchen, the twins having grabbed their ice cream and taken it elsewhere. "I'll talk to her when I have a chance. You might want to tell Lucas, too. Might make a difference if her team leader reassured her that she's not an awful teammate."

"I'll be glad to teach her," Ian said quietly. "If she'll let me."

"I'm sure she won't have a problem, Ian," she said. "And if you're worried about asking her, maybe Lucas can drop a hint and she can come and ask you instead."

"Thanks," he said, sounding relieved. Teresa stifled a laugh.

"So, how're you taking it?" Forrest asked. "Being off the team and being a TP, I mean."

"It's not as bad as I thought, actually," Teresa said. "I miss the team and the fighting, but some things are making it better for me."

Ian raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" he asked in a very curious tone.

"Yeah. Weirdly enough, I've been picking up you guys' emotions. Especially Lucas'. It was kinda weird, but also kinda wonderful, although I kinda wondered that every time he got hit."

"Ouch," Ian said. "So, why are you picking up Lucas better?"

Teresa shook her head. "I think it's because I've forged some kind of bond with him. That's what I've figured, anyway. Y'see, I realized I was in love with him yesterday, and that he was in love with me," she said. She noticed the other two were exchanging grins. "What?"

"We were wondering when you'd notice that," Forrest said. "It isn't like he hasn't been trying to get your attention for the last year and a half. I swear, Teresa, sometimes you're so dense about these things!"

Teresa felt her cheeks redden. "Okay. Is there anyone else that I should know about that I've obviously missed? Do I have guys following me around that I should know about?"

Forrest and Ian exchanged glances again, and for once, Teresa wished she could read their minds to find out what was so funny. "There have been a couple," Forrest said.

Teresa nodded. She'd pry it out of the two of them later. "Ah."

"So, you're really in love with Lucas?" Ian asked shyly.

"Yeah. One minute I was bawling my eyes out, the next I realized that he was, well, someone that I was in love with."

"'Bout time you two got together," Forrest said.

"We've been best friends since first grade. Or Kindergarten, even. I'm allowed to be a little dense over this kind of thing," Teresa replied in a defensive tone.

"Teresa, there's something I think you should know," Ian said. His tone had turned grim.

"What?" Teresa asked.

"Well, you remember when Regina sent that scorpion-woman to capture me and take me back as her consort? The one who took one look at my Dad and figured he would make a better one?"

"Yeah, I especially remember we nearly lost your Dad to that one. Why?" Teresa asked.

"I did a lot of research after that happened, and I pulled a lot of background on Regina. Seems like she was various peoples' marriage-aranger. When she actually went into her own as a bad guy, her old habits stayed with her. Apparently, one of her favorite tricks is to marry the members of the team opposing her to anyone that she can find, preferably evil. That's why she tried to marry you, Cecelia and me off. And you and Lucas pairing up will certainly piss her off. She regards retired Rangers much the same as Rangers, and she certainly doesn't like two warriors of good pairing up."

"Great," Teresa said. "Why hasn't she gone after Olivia yet?"

"Olivia's not a warrior of good," Ian said. "She's a nobody to Regina unless she gets in the way or something. Regina's more interested in us and our parents. I doubt she would have had a problem if that scorpion-woman had taken off with Dad. She would have preferred to get rid of me, of course, but she would have been okay with that."

"So, what is she likely to do?" Teresa asked. She hoped that it wouldn't be more attempts at marriage.

"Either destroy you, or try marrying the two of you off," Ian said. "I mean, to different people. She might be more inclined to destroy you now, but who knows."

"Great," Teresa said, following it by a sigh. "That really brightens up my day."

Forrest put his bowl of ice cream down and kneeled by her. "She won't marry you off or destroy you, Teresa. We'll all make sure of that."

"Thanks, Forrest," Teresa said gratefully. She shook her head. "Man, would you have thought a year ago that we'd be worrying about things like this?"

"I wouldn't," Ian said. "But I wouldn't have traded it for the world."

"Me neither," Forrest replied. "I never thought I'd be following in my Dad's footsteps in much of anything, but suddenly, I'm a Ranger, just like he was. The only thing that would make it more weird was if he'd ever been Blue, but as far as I know he's never had that color."

"I felt weird at first being Green like my father," Ian said, but I got used to it."

"Dad never held yellow, obviously," Teresa said. "But it definitely felt weird the first few days of being a Ranger. When I talked to Dad, he had that feeling too, since he'd known about the realities of the Rangers a few months before he became one."

"Dad told me much the same thing the first time we talked after he found out I was a Ranger," Ian said. "We had a very long talk that day, starting with apologizing to me about assuming I'd been going astray."

"Dad was pretty cool about me being a Ranger when he found out," Forrest said. "It was pretty neat to hear how he became a Ranger. Guess that 'random acts of kindness' thing sometimes leads to pretty interesting situations."

"Cecelia said that her father makes her work out a lot more nowadays," Teresa said. "It shows, although I do sometimes feel kinda sorry for her. She wanted to be a fighter like her Dad- well, she's getting it in spades now. Guess Mr. Oliver's kind of worried about his daughter."

"I caught Dad and Mom sitting in the living room anxiously staring at the radio when I came home once," Ian said quietly. "I think they're really worried but don't want to show it."

"My Dad's been really good about not doing that," Forrest said. "But he seems to want to spend more time with me more, so I guess he's kind of worried, too."

"Well, it is dangerous," Ian said. "We knew the risks when we signed on. We knew we could be wounded or killed. Didn't stop us."

"I wouldn't have passed up the opportunity for anything," Teresa replied. "I wanted the chance to defend the Earth as my father did, and make up for him breaking out, kinda. It was kind of an honor thing. Even now I feel like I've let him and the family down on that."

"It's not your fault you broke out, Teresa," Ian said. "You didn't leave because you were afraid to fight."

"I left because I stood a good chance of getting the rest of you killed if I stayed on," Teresa replied. "Dad almost learned that the hard way. But it still feels so awful."

Forrest placed his hand on her shoulder. "Teresa, none of this is your fault! Get it though your thick skull. It's not your fault. You fought the best you could. Didn't you just tell Elise this afternoon that you just have to do your best? Apply it to yourself."

"It's a little hard to do that," Teresa said, realizing that Forrest was right. "This is a lot harder than her situation. I feel so... off-balance. That's as best I can describe it. It's not something that anybody else can understand, even Dad. Hard to believe, right?"

She was attempting to smile, but she knew as she looked at Forrest and Ian that she wasn't doing well. "You'll figure it out, Teresa. I know you will," Ian said.

"Thanks, Ian," she felt. This time her smile was genuine.

* * *

"Morning, Mom," Teresa said as she rounded the corner into the kitchen. Her mother was sipping a cup of coffee and absentmindedly pushing some scrambled eggs around on her plate. She'd already seen her mom's computer that morning. Her mom had obviously started her backlog this morning, which meant that the rest of the family might not see much of her over the next two days. It was a miracle that she hadn't started on it soon after she arrived. Teresa guessed that the fact that Dad had stuffed dinner into her and then hauled her into the bedroom had something to do with that. They hadn't emerged from the bedroom when she'd gone to bed.

"Morning, Teresa," her mother said. Her father was making breakfast.

"Morning, Dad. What's for breakfast?"

Her father smiled. "You have to ask?"

She smiled back as he heaped scrambled eggs and hash browns onto her plate. She just hoped her stomach was as big as her eyes, as it all smelled good and she was hungry. She set into her food eagerly, not missing her parents trading smiles.

"So, what are you doing today?" her mother asked. "Will we see you at all?"

"I'm meeting the gang at the Juice Bar this morning, and Toby and Cheryl this evening for a picnic dinner. I'll be back between then, though, because there's something I want to talk about with Dad."

"There is?" her mother asked, looking slightly startled. "This has something to do with Lucas?"

Obviously her Dad had caught her Mom up on her lovelife. "Partially. It's to do with the Rangers."

Teresa saw her mother try not to frown. Her Dad had always been supportive of her being a Ranger, but her mother, once she found out, had disapproved. She tried to hide it nowadays, but she wasn't usually successful. The only reason it wasn't a worse problem was that her mom knew that she knew how to fight.

"I've got two classes at the dojo today," Dad said, "but I should be home by early afternoon. Unless it's a big crisis."

"No, just something that I need to talk to you about," Teresa said airily. Her father frowned, presumably picking up that it wasn't as light a matter as it sounded, but didn't comment.

"Do you need me to take you there, honey?" her mother asked.

"No, I'm going to jog over," Teresa replied, just before she shoveled another forkful into her mouth.

* * *

Teresa stopped at the sidewalk as she noticed two other joggers coming her way. Cecelia waved, slowing down as she came nearer. Her Dad, right behind her, slowed down too. "Hey, Teresa! We're jogging to the Juice Bar. Wanta join us?"

Teresa grinned. "Sure, I was heading that way anyway, and I'll be glad of the company."

The trio jogged along, chatting about random things, until they reached the Juice Bar. "I think I need a drink," Cecelia said. She headed into the Juice Bar. Teresa was about to stop her, when Mr. Oliver put a hand on her shoulder. "Teresa, are you okay?"

She blinked in confusion. "Yeah. Why?"

He sat down on a nearby bench and motioned for her to join him. "Me and Kat were watching the news last night, and Zeo Ranger II has developed a distinctly different fighting style. We figured something was wrong."

"I broke out," Teresa said flatly. "We have a new yellow Ranger, and it was her luck that Regina attacked twice yesterday."

"Probably she wanted to get the drop on you guys while you were down a Ranger," Mr. Oliver said. "That new one has potential, though."

Teresa smiled. "That's what we've been telling her."

"So, you and your Dad been handling it okay?" Mr. Oliver asked gently.

"He doesn't know."

"He doesn't know?" Mr. Oliver replied, sounding incredulous. "You haven't told him?"

"I needed some time to think and adjust. Nobody knows, except for the rest of the team, and I want to have some time to adjust. I'm going to tell him this afternoon, anyway. I think I'm ready now."

She looked up at him, surprised to see understanding instead of condemnation on his face. "I know the feeling. We all do, all of us who have given up the power. Something about it makes you want to stay away from those who can understand and help. You could ask Kat or Jase or Adam, and they could tell you the same thing. It's not an easy thing to live through."

"Does it always make you feel...empty?" Teresa asked, delighted to talk to someone who understood somewhat of what she was feeling.

"Yeah. For a while, it's like having a missing apendage...something that's not there, but you can remember it being there. It fades over time, but not completely. Believe me, none of us would turn down the chance to fight again."

Teresa smiled. "I'd love to do it too...not much chance though now, is there?"

"Hey, I learned long ago that being a Tomorrow Person didn't stop your Dad from being a warrior. It won't stop you either."

"Thanks."

"I'd better go now. Just remember, if you don't feel comfortable talking to your Dad about some of these things that there are a bunch of us retired Rangers in the area. We'll all be happy to help you with this."

"Thanks, Mr. Oliver," she replied. Mr. Oliver smiled, and jogged off.

Cecelia was waiting for her at the door. "Dad wanted to talk to you for a bit, eh?"

"Yeah," Teresa said. She was still smiling, but it became a little wider. "He kinda reminded me that I have more people than I normally think of to turn to."

"That's good," Cecelia told her. "It's good to have one Oliver that can give advice. I can't think of anything to tell you, and that's very awkward."

"That's okay. I think I'll have enough advice for quite a while that no advice will be a relief."

They headed into the Juice Bar together.

* * *

Lucas and Teresa were walking in the park. "So, how are things going?" Lucas asked. "How do you feel?"

"Better, now," Teresa replied. "I'm telling Dad this afternoon. It's been two days, and I think that the rest and the time to think has helped."

"Great-" Lucas started to say, but was interrupted by the arrival of Regina's soldiers. The two of them fought valiantly, but they were both subdued and teleported out.

* * *

Teresa woke up in a barren metal room. She guessed she was on Regina's base. Near her, Lucas groaned. She went to help him, and found a forcefield in her way.

"I see my guests are awake," a woman's voice came from behind her. Teresa turned around.

"Who in the heck are you?" she asked.

The woman looked bemused. "I'm Regina. I've brought you here because I have an offer for you, Teresa DeSantos."

Teresa laughed. "Yeah. Right. Why would I want to take any offer from you?"

"Because I can restore your happiness."

"I am happy," Teresa countered.

"As a weakling, unable to fight? Because that's what you've become, girl. You've dreaded this change throughout your life, and now you're going to simply sit there and accept it because your culture says you should. You're a warrior! You're already unhappy there. Let me give you a way to be as you were meant to be- a warrior!"

Teresa almost groaned. She should have expected this. "I am one. My change hasn't taken away my ability to fight, just my ability to kill. Not a great loss."

"Your inability to kill has made you leave something precious to you," Regina countered. "I could bring that back to you, make you a full warrior again, a Ranger. I could destroy that which has incapacitated you. You don't have to worry about being a telepath ever again. You can be a warrior, known throughout star systems. You can have anything you desire. Even him."

Regina was pointing at Lucas. Teresa drew in a breath. Regina's purpose was clear, to recruit her as an evil warrior and then, true to life, pair her with Lucas. "I understand you're attracted towards each other. In this way, you can be together, and I won't have problems with the pairing."

"I would," Lucas said, speaking up.

"I didn't ask you!" Regina snapped. "What will it be, dear, end your days as a shadow of yourself, or allow me to help you become as you truly are?"

Teresa looked at Lucas, who had his hands up against the invisible forcefield. It would be nice to not worry about Regina messing up her lovelife, and she would like to fight again. However, she doubted she would be able to pay the price. And her father wouldn't like it.

She wouldn't like it, either, she reminded herself. She was a warrior, yes, and sometimes she had dreaded actually becoming a Tomorrow Person, yes, but she could not leave her Tomorrow People heritage aside to become a warrior. "No. I am who I am. If you see me as a weakling for that, so be it. I am who I'm supposed to be."

Regina frowned. "So be it. As a favor to a fellow warrior, I'll give you the merciful death you deserve- right after you see your beloved married to someone else. I have just the person in mind."

Regina smiled at her, and then left the room with her soldiers.

Teresa felt around the walls of her force cage. After a few minutes, she realized that Lucas was looking at her. She turned around to find him looking at her, smiling. "Thanks," he said.

"Not a problem. Not my fault that Regina got my motivations wrong. Close, no cigar."

"Now *I* have to worry about her marrying *me* off."

Teresa shrugged. "Hey, she'd already tried it with me, Cecelia, and Ian. I guess she had to get to you eventually. It's her style."

"Huh?" Lucas looked confused.

"Marriage. Never mind. Talk to Ian when we get back."

Lucas nodded. "I will. But how are we going to get back, anyway? It's not like she's going to have us fight and choose between us, and I doubt we can teleport out."

Teresa blinked. "I can, duh."

"Oh, yeah. Can you get us out of here?"

Teresa shook her head. "I can get *me* out of here, I'll end up in the Pacific Ocean, you'll still be here. I can't do that."

"You've got to," Lucas said stubbornly.

"I won't."

"Teresa, that is a direct order. From your leader. Get out of here, now!"

"Ah, Lucas, hate to break it to you, but I'm not under your command anymore. So, if you'll shut up for ten, I might be able to recall how to teleport out of here. With you."

Lucas responded by folding his arms and glaring at her. She ignored him, trying to remember any times where anybody was instructing a new TP on how to teleport. She finally remembered one, and smiled. "Think of where you're going, and not being here..." she murmured, concentrating on teleporting onto Lucas' lap.

She did, and ignored the small "oof!" that came from Lucas, wrapping her arms around him and concentrating on her living room. She materialized there, and the first thing she saw was her dad's foot. She looked up. "Hi, Dad!"

"Teresa," her father said, and she found herself in a tight hug, both from him and from Lucas.

* * *

It was a week since Regina had kidnapped Lucas and Teresa, and things had returned mostly to normal. Teresa was with Forrest and Ian and a picnic lunch. Cecelia was on a day trip with her parents, and Lucas was giving Elise a pep talk. Lucas and Elise would join them later.

Teresa was grateful for the lack of company, however. She'd spent the entire week hanging around many of her friends on the TP end. As Lucas predicted, they had descended joyfully. The only good part of the whole thing was that she could control and use her powers now. The only good thing about all their attention was that they'd refrained from 'I told you so', probably due to the fact that her shields had gotten a slight bit less high. They were still pretty high for a Tomorrow Person, though, but people respected that. It had actually turned out to be less of a problem than it seemed. The whole thing was less of a problem than she'd thought it would be, actually. Part of it was on her end. A lot of it was on her end. She may be a Tomorrow Person, but that had yet to stop her being what she was before.

Lucas had sent along fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the occasion. Forrest was cheerfully munching on one. He'd always liked them. She'd wrinkled her nose when she'd seen them, and Ian wasn't touching them either.

"You okay?" Ian asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"How's it going with Lucas?"

"Fine. I don't know if Melissa's going to take well to seeing Lucas regularly, but she'll have to survive."

Ian laughed, and Forrest joined in. Forrest said, "I'm glad you're still with us."

Teresa shrugged. She knew what Forrest was talking about. "It was tempting, I admit that. But I don't think I could have ever taken it. At least Regina inadvertently provided the solution for my problems, even if it wasn't the solution she preferred."

"What was that?" Forrest asked. "You never told us."

"It was something that I kind of forgot right after I became a TP. I've been talking so long about the balance I have to strike between the Rangers and the TP, right? Well, right after I broke out, I didn't feel balanced. I'd tipped too far to one side in a very short time. Regina brought me back to reality in reminding me that I was both. What she would have done would have, among other things, broken my balance completely. I would have turned into a raving lunatic."

"That would have been a problem."

"Yeah. Too bad she didn't realize it. She almost had me figured out, but I guess she forgot something that wasn't important to her. It's really too bad. She'd been planning this for months."

"We're just glad to have you back," Ian said.

"I'm glad to be back," Teresa said. "I'm glad to be with my friends."

"Thanks," Ian and Forrest said, almost simultaneously. Forrest continued with, "we'll miss you, though."

"Did I say I was going away?" Teresa smiled. "Once a Ranger, always a Ranger. I'm not going to forget that, and neither should you. Regina should be very afraid."

Her two friends smiled at her. "Welcome back," Forrest said.


	4. The Only One Who Can (Opposites Attract, Power Rangers/The Tomorrow People (1992))

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Change isn't always easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: the concepts of the Tomorrow People and the Power Rangers aren't mine. The concept of the Tomorrow People belongs to Roger Damon Price, Nickelodeon, Thames Television, Tetra Films, and possibly others. Rocky and the Power Rangers belong to Saban (who borrowed the idea from Toei's Super Sentai shows originally). Teresa and Iz, along with Teresa's Ranger teammates and Tomorrow People friends, are all mine. "A La Puerta Del Cielo" is a traditional Spanish song, although the wording I use is from "Songs That Children Sing" edited and compiled by Eleanor Chroman.
> 
> This is set sometime before the epilogue to "Expected Changes". It won't make much sense unless you've read that. There is some religious (Christian) pondering in here, which is no doubt because Rocky's religious side comes out quite a bit. Also, unlike Rocky, I do not speak Spanish (I used to, but it's been years...), so please forgive any mistakes in the language, and the lack of accents. This vignette was inspired by Beth Epstein's "Legends and Monsters: Epilogue".

The cry woke Rocky. He hadn't been able to sleep well that night, feeling surrounded by - well, something, he didn't know what. Beside him, Iz slept peacefully on, oblivious to him or Teresa.

It really didn't matter. It wasn't a problem she could soothe or solve. He was probably the only one who could. Only he knew what Teresa was going through.

He stretched, yawned, and made his way to his daughter's room. He opened the door. "Bonita, are you all right?" he asked, knowing that she wasn't.

"Sorry, Dad, didn't mean to wake you up," his daughter replied, trying to sound confident, but failing miserably.

Rocky turned on the light. Teresa's eyes were red, and her arms were hugging her knees. She was wearing a long, frilly yellow nightgown that he and Iz had gotten her just after she became a Ranger. It wasn't hard to guess why she was crying. He pulled up a chair beside her bed. "It'll get better, bonita. I know it will."

Teresa sniffled. "I find that hard to believe, Dad."

Rocky was silent. He didn't have to imagine the agony that Teresa was going through. He could feel it as surely as if he was experiencing it himself. Teresa's powers had made her emotions even more accessable to him. While it was sometimes great to tell if she was lying her head off, right now it was just a confirmation that his child was really hurting.

Sometimes he wondered what was going on with God. His child had been given her Ranger abilities, hadn't abused them, and still had them taken away, to be given a set of abilities she would have accepted more easily if she'd been given a chance to retire first. What message was she being given? That she was headed in the wrong direction, being pointed gently back to what she would be?

Or was the message being directed at someone else? Him, or the Tomorrow People, or her many friends? Sometimes God did work in mysterious ways, and Teresa's breakout was only one part of a larger plan. Correct that, it probably was some part of a larger plan. Maybe it would teach the Tomorrow People that they had to understand the violence they drew back from. Or maybe the Rangers, to remind them of what they were fighting for. Or maybe it wasn't to teach anyone anything at all. Maybe it was supposed to affect something else.

Rocky wished he knew. Wished he knew so that he could comfort his daughter and ease her pain a little bit. Even when he wasn't feeling it directly, he knew how she felt. Nobody else had gone from being a Ranger to being a Tomorrow Person.

"Am I keeping you up, Dad?" Teresa asked. "Did I wake you?"

"If you woke me, it was because you needed me," Rocky reassured his daughter. "Don't worry about waking me up about things like this. I'm your father. I'm supposed to be here for things like this."

Teresa managed a small smile. "Okay, Dad."

"How are things going? With the... others? Are your shields getting stronger, Bonita?"

"I think they are. I hope so, Dad. This is annoying as all get out."

Rocky grinned. "It'll get better soon, Bonita. I had a lot of problems at first, too. And my friends didn't even know why I was avoiding them. Your friends do. They'll wait for you to get used to things."

"I hope so. I need them. Some of my friends on the other end are getting real annoying."

"They'll calm down too," Rocky reassured her. "There are so few Tomorrow People still, and they were afraid."

"I know. They pushed so hard...."

"Sometimes people just *don't* understand," Rocky said. "You've got to accept that and move on."

Teresa nodded, although Rocky didn't think she was getting it. Still, even teenagers sometimes only needed a soothing voice and a parent's hug. Meanings could come later. He wrapped his arms around her, and rocked.

He found himself singing. "A la puerta del cielo venden zapatos, para los angelitosque andan descalzos. Duermete nino, duermete nino, duermete nino, aru, aru."

Gradually Teresa fell asleep, soothed by the music. "Tomorrow will be better, Teresa," he whispered, before he went back to bed.

He hoped that he was right.

-end


	5. The Protector (Opposites Attract, Power Rangers/The Tomorrow People (1992))

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucas explains why he's so protective of Teresa.

Her hair is soft.

I haven't really ever had the chance to play with her hair before, run my fingers though it, but she's asleep and won't mind. I hope I don't wake her up, she needs all the peace she can get. I can't imagine being a telepath. I don't think she's fully realized the reality beyond having to leave the team.

You don't have to be a telepath to realize how angry she is sometimes about what she's lost. She claims to have accepted everything, but I don't think she has. Not as long as she's got that anger inside her. And I can't help. I'm too angry myself.

Her Tomorrow People friends treat her as a prodigal daughter, a sheep returned to the fold. She's not like them, never will be. You would think that they would have learned that lesson with her father. A Ranger is always a Ranger. The Power may leave, but the memories never do.

Teresa says that some element of the Power must still be in her, or she wouldn't be able to connect to the rest of us so well, and neither would her father. In fact, for a couple of days, she couldn't stand to be near us- our emotions kept slipping past the shields she has to keep sane.

But that's done now. She hangs out with us as much as she can. Maybe it's the way that she keeps the balance that's so precious to her, or maybe it's just clinging to what she has left of her Rangerhood. I don't know if it's healthy, but I don't want her to stop at the moment. I need her too.

Funny, how it took her losing her powers for us to realize that we're in love. Actually, that she loved me as more than a friend. I wonder how many guys have been chasing her in vain, and I wonder why she never noticed. It's not because she's shy like Ian. Of course, I'm not sure I'll ever figure it out. Teresa isn't always very predictable.

I keep feeling the need to protect her. She looks so harmless, so defenseless. Yeah, she's the star athlete, a person a lot of people look up to, but there's so much she has going on inside that even I can't imagine. Sometimes, it has seemed like she's going to be split in half by her two different main obligations, and she's never asked for help. I know there is counselling for this sort of thing, but what can she say? "I was a Power Ranger, and now I'm a telepath that's unable to kill"? Sure, if she wants to get tossed into a straightjacket. And what TP psychologist would understand why she was in an occupation that made her kill on a regular basis?

And she wonders why I want to protect her.

She won't accept it, but she needs it. She needs us, the rest of the team. She needs me. And I need her.

I love her.


	6. Between Worlds (Opposites Attract (Power Rangers/The Tomorrow People (1992) & Tomorrow's Future (The Tomorrow People (1992)/Highlander: The Series)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes just talking about things helps, as one new Tomorrow Person finds when he crosses universes and finds a kindred soul. This is a crossover with the "Tomorrow's Future" universe, falling after "The Atropos Project" on that end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The Tomorrow People characters and concepts do not belong to me, but instead to Nickelodeon, Tetra Films/Thames Television, and Roger Damon Price. The Power Rangers characters and concepts belong to Saban. The concepts and characters of Highlander: The Series belong to Davis/Panzer productions and Rysher. I am using these without permission.
> 
> Georgina "Greer" Lewis, Michael Gardner, and Iz Gladding belong to me.
> 
> This is my fifth story in the "Opposites Attract" universe. It's meant to occur between the stories "Some Things" and "But Keep the Old" on the timeline. Those of you familiar with the "Tomorrow's Future" universe will note that this occurs after Ladyslvr's "The Atropos Project".
> 
> This little piece of fluff is a crossover between two crossover universes that I write (whew!). The first universe is "Opposites Attract", my Power Rangers/Tomorrow People crossover serial. The second is "Tomorrow's Future", a crossover universe that I cowrite with a couple of people. That one is a crossover between Highlander: the Series and The Tomorrow People, with some Sliders and other series.
> 
> This story was written primarily as a way to introduce people reading only "Opposites Attract" to "Tomorrow's Future". However, I hope that people familiar with either will enjoy reading it.
> 
> Thanks to: Ladyslvr and Mandi Ohlin for betareading.

Rocky walked towards home, hoping that he'd get there in time to watch his favorite show. He wasn't feeling too great, and he wondered if he should take a nap instead.

"Hey, Rocky!" Adam yelled from behind him. Rocky groaned. Not that he wasn't glad to see Adam, but somehow he wasn't blocking Adam's emotions as he could do with most of the population. He wondered if he'd have this problem with the rest of the Rangers. He hoped not.

"What's up, Adam?" Rocky asked.

Adam was panting as he finally caught up with Rocky. "We're supposed to be picking Jason up at the airport, remember?"

"Um, sure, when?" Rocky asked again.

"We're supposed to pick him up at 6pm on Thursday. I was planning on leaving at 5:30, and I can pick you up."

"That'd be great, thanks," Rocky replied.

"Oh, and Kim wrote. She says that she has a break in a month and a half, so she might be coming back for that."

Rocky wondered if he'd pick up Kim's emotions as well when she got home. At least he'd know beforehand, if or when he started picking up Jason's emotions. "I'll be glad to see her," he said. He hoped that he wouldn't have problems. He and Kim had been good friends on the team and he'd hate to have to stay away from her just because he got overwhelmed by emotions.

Adam looked at him oddly. Rocky could feel the worry radiating from his friend, no doubt spawned by his lack of enthusiasm. "Are you okay, Rocky?"

"Yeah, it's only leftover back, or maybe the painkillers," Rocky said, hoping that Adam would accept his explanation.

Adam did, as far as Rocky could tell. The worry didn't go completely away, though, and Rocky could tell that he'd be receiving concerned looks during the whole trip. Adam shrugged. "Okay, see you then."

"Bye," Rocky replied. He watched Adam walk away. He was actually looking forward to being with his former teammates again, but he hoped that he'd not be picking up their emotions a lot. He kind of missed the bunch, even if sometimes it seemed like they'd never noticed he was gone a lot.

He got home, passed the TV, and headed straight for his room. Spending time with Adam had taken more out of him than he had thought, and so he found himself drowsing off as soon as he hit the bed.

* * *

Rocky groaned, coming awake as a hand touched his forehead. Without opening his eyes, he said, "I'm fine, Momma."

There was no response from his mother, so he opened his eyes. His first sight was that of an unfamiliar woman. Then he realized that he was in an unfamiliar room as well. "Oh, good, you're awake," the woman said, cracking a smile.

"Where am I? Who are you?" he asked. He'd heard warnings from the other Tomorrow People about people who would want to imprison them for their own gain.

"I'm Georgina Lewis, and this is my flat in London."

London? The woman's accent was American, but 'flat' was a British term, as far as he knew. "How did I get here?"

"You teleported in," she replied, smiling at him in that way that indicated she was humoring him. "Appeared from nowhere right onto my couch and gave me a right scare. Do you know what teleporting is?"

"Yeah, I know. This isn't my first time," he said, vaguely pleased to see a look of surprise form upon her face.

"What happened your first time?" she asked, sitting down. The surprise was gone, as was her prior expression. He'd piqued her interest.

"Uh, well, I was in the middle of the park at home, and there were some bad guys coming towards me. I was about to get pummeled, and then I ended up taking a salt-water bath. Fortunately, Jade was on the beach, and she got me a towel and then summoned Adam."

The woman whistled. "Wow. What's today's date, and what's your name, anyway?"

He decided that he could trust her a little bit. "My name's Rocky, and it's July twenty-seventh, nineteen nintety seven."

"Rocky, huh? Is that a nickname, or did your parents have a thing for Stallone movies?" Georgina asked. She frowned. "I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me if you don't want."

"It's okay," Rocky replied. "It's my nickname. I hate my real one."

The woman cracked a grin again. "I know how that is. I insisted on being called 'Geo' for a lot of years, until I was tired of it. And up until a short while ago, I went by Greer, but that's no longer me either. How long have you been a Tomorrow Person? Do you call yourselves that where you come from?"

"Huh?" Rocky asked. As far as he could tell, she was off on a topic that she had fully expected him to follow.

"You must be from a parallel universe," Georgina said calmly. "Adam didn't recognize you when you arrived, yet you say that he was there shortly after you broke out. And you're a year behind us, so you're not from the future. So, you're probably not from this universe. Adam recognized you as one of his kind, so I know you're not lying."

Rocky studied Georgina. "You don't sound surprised that I'm from another universe."

Georgina shrugged. "You're not our first cross-universe arrival. We had another bunch a year or two back. Besides, you kind of get used to that kind of thing after a while."

"Did they get back home?" Rocky asked.

"I have no idea," the woman responded. "I certainly hope so. I never met Wade's double, but I hope the poor woman got home."

Rocky blinked. Then he remembered he was in a different universe and of course some things would not be fiction. "Wade Welles?"

"You know her?" Georgina asked, looking astonished. "Did she come to your world as well?"

"Uh, no," Rocky replied. He wondered how to explain things. "There's this TV show called 'Sliders' in our universe. They're fictional characters. At least to me. They have doubles here?"

"Fictional characters," Georgina said, sounding amused. "Our Quinn and Wade work for a company that archives records on CD-ROM. They live in New York. Their doubles, hilariously enough, landed in San Francisco."

"Anything else supernatural or weird around here that I should know about?" Rocky asked. "Not that I mind, really, but I'd like to know."

"Immortals are the only thing that I can think of," Georgina said after a moment's thought. "They take a little more explaining."

Rocky watched as Georgina picked up a knife. "Let me guess. They can only be killed by beheading."

Georgina inspected the knife, only glancing up when he said 'beheading'. "Let me guess, Immortals are fiction in your universe?"

"Yeah. There was this series of movies. The second one was really cheezy."

"Good. At least I don't have to explain *that*," Georgina said, smiling and putting the knife down. "Makes some things easier."

Rocky wondered what she meant. "So how did you come to know about us?"

Georgina shrugged and leaned back into the chair. "I almost walked into a bombing, and Megabyte's dad was part of the investigation. Adam was with him when I was being questioned one time. I felt weird to him."

"Weird?" Rocky asked. About the only thing weird about Georgina was that she associated with Tomorrow People.

"I don't feel weird to you?" Georgina asked, looking thoughtful. Then, as if in answer to her own question, she continued. "Maybe you're not as sensitive to these things as ours are. Or maybe you're just not recognizing the feeling."

"Why would you feel weird to me?" Rocky asked. "You seem normal."

She smiled again. "Thanks. But I'm not. I'm as mutated human as you are."

"Huh?" Rocky asked. He tried to figure out what she was saying.

"I'm an Immortal, Rocky. I've been one for a few years now. That's why your secret is safe with me, because I share the same fear that someone is going to exploit me for what I am. Besides, I like you guys," Georgina said, her smile widening into a grin.

"Thanks, I think," Rocky said to her. "How does someone who is essentially a warrior end up hanging with a bunch of pacifists, anyway?"

"That's because I'm not much of a warrior," Georgina replied. "I was a scholar before I became an Immortal. Besides, I've been hanging around Adam, and he's convinced I can be the next Darius. I don't think I can, but haven't been able to convince him of that fact."

"I don't think the movies covered him," Rocky said.

"Sorry. Darius was, well, one of our older Immortals. He was a warrior once, and then one day he suddenly gave up war to live in peace. He spent the rest of his life mainly on holy ground, where other Immortals couldn't kill him. He was a great man who taught many of my kind non-violent ways."

"Did you ever meet him?" Rocky asked. He could hear the sadness in her voice.

"No. I never left the States until I became Immortal, and he lived in Paris. He died a few months before I died for the first time. Permanently, that is. Bastards killed him because he was Immortal, and because he was an easy target."

"Who killed him?"

Georgina looked up. "Bigots. Mortals who thought Immortals were out to rule the world and therefore thought we must be destroyed. People who couldn't see that we were as good and as evil as ordinary folks. Since they weren't Immortal, our holy ground rule didn't effect them. They killed him in his own church."

Rocky got up, ready to console Georgina, who was beginning to cry. "There will always be evil," he said, wincing inwardly at the trite phrase.

"Yeah. That's why I'm glad you guys exist. Restores some of the balance," Georgina said, reaching for a tissue.

"He didn't fight back at all?" Rocky asked.

"Darius forswore war and violence centuries before either of us was born. He would have loved you guys. None of you can fight much worth of anything. I think he and Adam would have gotten along great."

"I can fight," Rocky offered.

"You *think* you can fight," Georgina responded. "I could probably beat any of you, and I'm barely trained in fighting. Unless you're into martial arts or something."

Rocky smiled. She'd be in for a surprise if she tried tackling him.

"Martial Arts?" she asked.

"Yeah," Rocky replied.

Georgina whistled. "I won't take you on, then. Does being a Tomorrow Person affect practicing the martial arts?"

Rocky attempted to figure out that question and failed. Truth be told, he was tired of the incessant questioning. "Not really, and could we quit with all the questions, please. I won't attack you, you won't attack me, I just woke up in a strange universe I'm thirsty and I want to figure out how to get home!"

Georgina looked sheepish. "Sorry. I tend to get like this. What do you want to drink? Tea, coffee, water? I might have some soft drinks in the fridge, although I don't buy them very often."

"A soft drink is fine," Rocky said.

Georgina went into another room, presumably a kitchen. Rocky heard the a faucet being run, and a door opening and closing. A minute later, Georgina came back with a glass of water and a can of Pepsi. "As I said, sorry for the barage of questions. It's just not every day that I get someone from another universe ending up on my couch. And a TP to boot."

"I can imagine," Rocky said politely. "I just wish I knew how I got here, and why I'm here."

"Weird things happen," Georgina said, plopping down on a chair. "Before I met you guys, I would have never believed that people could teleport. I believed that people could live forever unless they were beheaded, but I never believed you folks could exist."

"How did I arrive?" Rocky asked. "As far as I remember, I was tired, I went home, I napped, and suddenly I wake up here."

"One moment you weren't here, the next you were," Georgina replied. "No flash of light, no anything. I just looked over at the couch and you were there."

"Maybe there's some reason I'm here," Rocky said. "Like Quantum Leap."

Georgina laughed. "For some reason I find that hilariously funny."

"So, how did you get to meet us? You said Adam thought you felt weird."

"That's not exactly true," Georgina said. "It's the best way he was able to describe it. Not being a telepath myself, I couldn't comprehend how exactly he felt. But then, I can't exactly describe what a quickening feels like, either. I can describe certain things, like picking up the experiences of the guy I beheaded, but I can't describe in words how it feels to have somebody's energy inside me. I can sometimes feel it, but I can't tell you how it feels like."

"Okay, leaving off indescribable experiences," Rocky said, glad to escape what sounded like a long technical explanation, "how did you meet?"

"Adam was curious about me," Georgina said, settling back in the chair. "So he took Lisa along to visit. Actually, I understand she was trying to restrain him. They ended up teleporting into a park, only a few feet from me. I followed them to our new apartment, where we all surprised each other."

"And you befriended him," Rocky replied, trying to imagine their encounter. Surprised was probably an understatement. "I don't imagine that Adam would have reacted at all well to the Kurgan or someone like that."

Georgina shrugged. "Probably not. Actually, I think Adam is capable of befriending anything, but I think he would have had a hard time with one of our more hardened warriors. Actually, I'm surprised he wants to be with *me*. I'm a murderer and a potential serial killer. I haven't killed anybody since I met him, but I did kill before."

Rocky blinked. "So did I. He doesn't seem to have a problem with me, either."

"I think he's more worried about something larger than an insect," Georgina said, smiling wryly.

"How about giant monsters?" Rocky asked, ticked off with the typical idea that he had no more responsibility than making sure his sisters got to school on time. "I've killed plenty of them."

"Easy, Rocky," Georgina said, holding her hands up. "I didn't mean to imply that you're not able to take care of things. By the way, if you don't mind me asking one question, where are you from, anyway?"

"Angel Grove. North of Los Angeles."

Georgina smiled. "I know. I lived there for three months, years back."

"That's good. Have you ever heard of the Power Rangers?"

The blank look she gave him was enough to show that she hadn't. "No. I would guess that they and the monsters don't exist on this world and we got the Immortals instead. Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

"The Power Rangers are superheroes that go fight the forces of evil. The bad guys usually send monsters, and the Power Rangers go after them. We've had a couple of sets of bad guys so far, but the current threat is a space pirate named Divatox."

Georgina wrinkled her nose. "Divatox, huh? Can't do much with that name besides become a baddie. So, you're a Power Ranger as well? You must be if you've killed monsters."

"Ex-Ranger. I injured my back a month or two before I broke out, and so I got a replacement. He's doing fine, despite the fact that he's twelve."

"So, you're a martial artist who used to fight monsters and turned into someone who couldn't kill, while I, a peace-loving scholar, end up having to learn how to fight for my life."

Rocky smiled at the thought. "Yeah. Opposites. Do you have it any easier than I do?"

"I don't know," Georgina said thoughtfully. "If you're talking about a simple swap of peace vs. war, either of us might have the edge. Humankind does fight easily, but there are many devoted to peace. *I* certainly didn't want to be an Immortal. I used to love swashbuckling movies as a kid, but I wasn't happy to find out my life depended on being able to swashbuckle."

Rocky tried hard not to laugh at the sudden image of Georgina in a musketeer costume. "I wish I could fight again. I mean, I can spar, but I liked being able to save the Earth from evil aliens."

"I would like to go back to being a scholar, myself," Georgina admitted. "I was never adventure-prone."

"I don't suppose the no-kill thing excludes monsters." Rocky said hopefully. "I want to be able to fight if they need me."

"Well, I've been studying your kind for a couple of years now," Georgina replied, rubbing her chin and then dropping her hand into her lap. "I think that's about as likely as me getting pregnant. In other words, zilch on our world. Of course, your world may be different from our own and this may not apply to you."

"Thanks," Rocky said, feeling a bit sarcastic. "That really helps."

"Sorry, but that's the best I can do. I can't imagine I know everything about you folks on this world. I also don't know what differences there are in your world that might make any answers I give you wrong for you. I can only tell you what's right on this world, here."

"I suppose so," Rocky conceded. "I just want my life to get back to normal.

"You and me both," Greer said, smiling sadly. "Although neither of us had a normal background to begin with, even before we became what we are. I imagine being a Ranger was a special thing. I know being a Watcher was. So, what is normal really?"

"I don't know. What's a Watcher, anyway?"

"A member of secret society that records the lives of Immortals. I became one when I was seventeen and left twelve years later when I became Immortal. You could say that I never learned to be a normal adult, because I dealt with supernatural things on a daily basis."

"You were seventeen?" Rocky asked, and then decided to share a bit with her. Maybe it would help her to understand his world and she'd be able to tell him if he could take care of monsters when he got home. "I was fifteen when I became a Ranger."

"Neither of us is destined to have normal lives, I see," Georgina said, sounding somewhat morose.

"Hey, you've just got to do the best with what you've got," Rocky said, attempting to lighten Georgina's mood.

"I guess so," Georgina replied. "It doesn't make being special any bit easier, though. I may not remember much about what it was like to be normal, but I do miss what passed for normal in my life. Living my life, observing the Immortals I was assigned to, writing reports..."

"Fighting monsters, trying to have a life while doing that and going to high school. Sometimes I forget that I shouldn't miss that."

Georgina smiled. "Lives are important things. I didn't have much of one either as I recall," she said. She then frowned again. "Rocky, do your friends know about you?"

"Do they know I'm a Tomorrow Person? No, I don't want them to know. I mean, they know about the Tomorrow People, and they're okay with the concept, but I'm kind of afraid that they'll try to avoid me if they find out."

"Why? I don't have much contact with my friends because technically anyone who comes in contact with me is breaking the rules, but why would they avoid you?"

"I can't explain it exactly, but I think they like the concept but are afraid of the reality. I don't want them to treat me differently because of what I am."

"If they desert you because you've become a Tomorrow Person, then they're not very good friends, I would think."

"It's not like I hang around with them much, anyway," Rocky said, wanting to defend his friends. "I've been uncomfortable with what I've become, so I've been avoiding them, and besides, I'm afraid that I'd miss going into battle when they do. It would get awkward."

"You gave up being what you were because you had to," Greer said gently. "Believe me, it's not fun in the best of circumstances. *I* hid what I was for a while, but then I had no choice. The Watchers found out anyway and I had to leave."

"Oh," was all that Rocky could think of to say.

Georgina continued on, oblivious to him. "You've got to let people know, because otherwise it gets lonely. I remember Lisa talking to me a few times before she cut off ties with the others. She didn't feel like she fit in. Since I wasn't a Tomorrow Person but I knew her secret, she felt comfortable talking to me about it."

"This is different," Rocky replied. "I don't think they'll understand. I'm stuck between the rest of the Tomorrow People, who think violence is awful, and my friends, the Rangers, who think not being able to fight is awful. I don't really know anyone that's not in one of those two groups that I could confide in."

Georgina raised her eyebrows. "Nobody? No girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever? No other close friends?"

"I have a girlfriend," Rocky said, trying to figure out how to explain things. "But on one end, I swore an oath never to tell anyone I was a Ranger, and on the other end, she's a friend of Lisa's, and Lisa doesn't want her to know about me because she might find out that Lisa is one of us."

"Lisa is talking to other Tomorrow People? Amazing. Ours just came back, and she isn't comfortable hanging around other Tomorrow People for very long."

"Neither is ours," Rocky answered. "In fact, I do have someone to confide in. Lisa."

Georgina smiled. "I have my husband on the Watcher end. We were both Watchers once, and so I have someone around who understands my frustrations. People like that are very important."

"Yeah, I suppose so," Rocky said, unable to smother a yawn. "Excuse me."

"You must have jet lag," Georgina said, getting up. "I'll find you a pillow and blanket. You can stay here until you get home. If you get home."

Rocky yawned again. "Anything is possible," he said. He had no idea why he was so sleepy, but didn't bother to correct Georgina. He'd have plenty of time to worry about it later.

Georgina returned with the promised pillow and blanket a few minutes later, and Rocky accepted them gratefully. Despite the caffeine, he was rather sleepy. "Thanks," he said.

She smiled. "You're welcome," she replied, sitting down on the chair again. "Just remember, true friends will support you for what you are. That's the important thing. Don't wall yourself off. Somebody's got to understand."

"Right," Rocky replied, putting the pillow under his head and drawing the blanket around him.

* * *

Rocky woke up and found he was curled up, the covers a mess around him. He'd only been asleep for about an hour. "That was a weird dream," he said to himself as he yawned and got out of bed. At least he felt better. And his subconscious gave pretty good advice considering, even though he still felt he couldn't tell the Rangers about his new status.

But there was time for that later.


	7. A Musical Interlude (Tomorrow's Future, Highlander only)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A young Watcher named Georgina Lewis encounters an Immortal on a street corner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Historical note: "A Musical Interlude" was written as an exercise. Normally, I don't like to write stories with multiple points of view, and when I do, I limit them to one point of view per scene. In this case, I wrote the same scene twice, from different points of view. Point of View 1 is from the viewpoint of a young Georgina Lewis, Point of View 2 from the viewpoint of Jeremy Boulder.
> 
> I later used a similar technique in the stories "Telepathic Ghosts" and "Mistakes".

Point of View 1 (Georgina Lewis)

She'd seen him die. She'd seen him come to life again. It still amazed her, this dying-but-not-dead business that the Immortals were into.

Georgina Lewis sat patiently out of sight while the man revived. Close enough to still see but not be seen, she started singing to herself. And then stopped, as he revived. As if the gasp itself was frightening; as if it surprised him so to come back to life. Georgina wondered how it felt to die again and again, come back to life again and again.

He stumbled out of the alley, his trenchcoat neatly around him, hiding the chest wound. Nothing would hide the bullet hole in his back, but it was late enough that people maybe wouldn't notice it. Maybe.

His eyes blearily focussed on her. She'd nervously started to sing again, hoping that he'd mistake her for a streetcorner evangelist. The tune was one that she'd been taught as a child by a music teacher whose name she had long forgotten. A kindly old man with a narrow face. She wished she had the ability of the Immortals to remember everything.

"That's a beautiful song, sister. Are you an angel?"

She gaped at him. He'd been drunk, all right, and she wondered if he'd even registered that he'd been dead. Those street punks had really not needed to shoot him after they'd robbed him.

"Just a lost soul, my friend," she replied slowly, trying to seem like a runaway. She looked young enough. "Singing one of my favourite tunes."

"You've gone to church lately?"

"Sometimes," she replied. "Sometimes not. I did, as a kid. That's where I learned it."

"How old are you?"

She looked fiercely at him. "Nineteen." That part was true.

"I'd say younger, sister. I gotta list of shelters somewhere."

"Don't need one."

"You do."

She brushed her hand through her hair nervously, praying that he would just go away so that she could get home. "I got a home, mister. I just don't want to be there right now. I want to sing to the world, hope God forgives me."

He smiled. "You've got a beautiful voice, sister. Maybe you could go to church more regular, sing in the choir."

"I don't like the choir. I sing by myself."

He chuckled. "But see what they're missing? You've got a voice, sister. Real potential, in so many ways. Sing to God in church, seek what you're looking for, there."

"I'm not one for church. I prefer my own ways."

"Trust me, sister. Trust me, I used to direct a large choir, we needed all the voices we could get. So few people have a good voice now, you do. You're needed."

She sighed. It was a compliment, in a way. He had been a choir director in that time, and for such as he to say one had potential...well, that wasn't to be ignored. "I don't know."

"Trust me, sister. I know what I'm seeing. Go home. Be at peace. Sing. Life's too short to waste it."

Georgina smiled wanly. She looked into the man's eyes, and suppressed a shiver. Death. One saw it in so many ways. Here was a man that would soon die. She, a mortal, would likely outlive him. "I'll try. I'll go home. Thank you, mister. Would you like bus change? I mean, not everyone has the change they need."

"That would be fine. Thank you, sister. And may I never see you on these streets again."

She smiled and turned away. Time to sleep. And then, time to get reassigned. Somewhere with a choir. Life was, indeed, too short. And somehow, she was glad not to live forever.

* * *

Point of View 2 (Jeremy Boulder)

He gasped.

Jeremy Boulder looked around, bewildered, and tried to recall where he was. Then he remembered the thugs, the masks, the robbery...the gun. He knew that he'd have to go home and change clothes. Quietly, in case anyone had reported a dead body.

He could see no one. He could hear the soft song, a hymn sung by a female voice, coming from the street ahead.

Jeremy walked out of the alley to find a young woman, looking barely out of her teens and most likely younger. She wore a warm coat, heavy jeans and a surprised expression, almost guilty.

He cursed at himself for being drunk, and hoping that he was being encouraging, said, "That's a beautiful song, sister. Are you an angel?"

The teenager gaped at him and seemed to fold into herself. "Just a lost soul, my friend," she replied slowly, looking less bold than she was trying to be. "Singing one of my favourite tunes."

She was definitely no older than her teens. A lost soul, how sad. A mortal doomed to spend her days lost. But yet- no, it couldn't be. He knew what she was, what she would become. She'd need all the help she could get. "You've gone to church lately?"

"Sometimes," she replied. "Sometimes not. I did, as a kid. That's where I learned it."

In other words, not lately. It was a shame, that lately so few kids had faith in God. Sometimes it was the only constant in a long life. "How old are you?" he asked her.

The teenager glared at him, but he thought he heard a soft sigh. "Nineteen."

Nineteen. Not possible. She was surely younger. "I'd say younger, sister. I gotta list of shelters somewhere." If the thugs hadn't taken it along with his wallet.

She gave the tiniest shake of her head. "Don't need one."

The impudence of youth. She'd know all too soon something more complex than the streets. "You do."

She brushed her hair back and looked defiantly at him. "I got a home, mister. I just don't want to be there right now. I want to sing to the world, hope God forgives me."

He smiled. Definitely a runaway. But maybe he had a chance to turn her world around for the better, before she found out her reality. "You've got a beautiful voice, sister. Maybe you could go to church more regular, sing in the choir."

The young face pouted. "I don't like the choir. I sing by myself."

He chuckled, trying to remember when he was that young. "But see what they're missing? You've got a voice, sister. Real potential, in so many ways. Sing to God in church, seek what you're looking for, there."

"I'm not one for church. I prefer my own ways."

"Trust me, sister. Trust me, I used to direct a large choir, we needed all the voices we could get. So few people have a good voice now, you do. You're needed."

She sighed. He felt hope rise as she pondered his advice. Finally she looked up, doubtful. "I don't know."

He smiled gently, knowing he had won. She'd have a few more years of normal life, and then at least she'd have a foundation for the future. And she did have some talent. He didn't know if he'd live to see it, but she had a musical soul. "Trust me, sister. I know what I'm seeing. Go home. Be at peace. Sing. Life's too short to waste it."

She smiled wanly at him, and he tried smiling ever more encouragingly, noting a small shiver in her shoulders. "I'll try. I'll go home. Thank you, mister. Would you like bus change? I mean, not everyone has the change they need."

A true Christian. He'd been right to speak to her, to encourage her on a better path. "That would be fine. Thank you, sister. And may I never see you on these streets again."

He smiled as he accepted the change, and waved at her as she walked off towards another bus stop. She smiled back. He hoped he'd see her again some day, off the streets.

Jeremy made a decision to go back to church himself. It was the least he could do.


	8. Musty Shelves (Tomorrow's Future, Highlander/Buffy The Vampire Slayer)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greer gets stuck doing research.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The Highlander elements belong to many people and companies, including Rysher. The other element belongs to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy Productions.
> 
> Author's note: Well, you've got to start someplace, sometime. This is the beginning of an attempt to integrate yet another series into the TF universe. I'm beginning to write/rewrite the sequel to this thing. Sorry about the latin. 
> 
> (Of note, I never really merged Buffy into the Tomorrow's Future universe, so this is a bit of an oddity.)

*1989*

I hate crutches. I hate being busted back to research. I'm beginning to hate research with a passion. Oh, I can stand it if it's combined with something else, such as the four years I watched Charity McCullen, but otherwise I die of boredom.

Still, I suppose it's my fault that I wasn't watching where I was going and stuck my foot down that hole. But I needed to keep within visible range, and the darkness which made me miss the hole also made my subject miss me. Which is the important thing, of course. I'm still alive to complain.

And I'm lucky that it was a simple break, and that I was actually found fairly quickly. A broken leg can hurt like heck. But I still don't like getting stuck doing research, especially in some obscure library. I don't *care* how many occult volumes they have.

Leaning on my crutches, I peruse a book at the end of one stack. Almost nobody's at this place, so it really doesn't matter if I stand here instead of limping back to find the book's not good. I wish I hadn't taken Latin. Good grief! I'm going to go mad.

Something goes 'thunk' and my right crutch slides. I grab ahold of the book I was perusing in my left hand and grab onto the shelving with my right. Turning to my right, I notice a gentleman in tweeds who is leaning against another row. I'm guessing that he tripped over my crutch, causing him to lose his balance while I lost my hold.

Putting the book back on the shelf, I turn to face him. "I'm sorry," I say, hoping he isn't too injured. "I should have watched where I was sticking that."

"Quite all right," he replies, in a voice as English as his tweed jacket. "I wasn't watching my step. I'm afraid my mind was on - what you were just looking at."

"The 'Librum Vitrium Pulcherus'?" I ask in surprise. Who would be interested in a set of 'fictional' tales about Immortals? At least, it was presumed to be about Immortals. One can sometimes never tell.

"Yes, indeed."

"Interesting. So, you too are interested in tales of immortal beings?"

"I'm doing research on representations of immortality in Greek, Roman, and Persian texts. This book was mentioned to me as a possible source for my research."

"Ah." I nod. No more than a scholar who had no idea that some of this stuff was true. As far as I know Immortals exist, though not vampires or any other beings also mentioned in the tales. "Then, perhaps I should let you have a go at it first. I'll need it much more extensively."

"Very well. I shall endeavour to return it for your use as soon as possible. My main interest in the book is the tale of Aetus."

I freeze, and then remember where I was. Aetus is one of those I'm assigned to track, although nobody's seen him since ancient Pompeii. "Aetus, the one who sliced through his opponent's neck partway just to drink the blood?" I ask casually.

"Yes, are you familiar with him?" he looks at me expectantly.

"Vaguely. That is, coincidentally, why I'm here. I'm to evaluate this work for possible translation. One of my co-workers traced the story down and says that this work probably has the most accurate translation of it. I'm just hoping that, since this is a several-centuries later typeset of it, that it is worth the look."

"I wouldn't think that the stories would be suitable for mass consumption. However, with the popularity of vampire stories, all this Anne Rice, one never knows."

I shrug. "Won't know until I look at it. Could you hand me my crutch, please?"

He does so, and I take the book off the shelf, revelling in the smell. Before I hand it to him, I say, "By the way, I'm Georgina Lewis. Perhaps, if we ever meet again, would you be interested in lunch. I would welcome an opinion beside my own."

I hand it to him. "Thank you. Perhaps sometime." He looks nervous. I don't think I'm going to see him again.

As he leaves, I realize I never got his name. Bright, Geo, real bright. Well, there are other books - and other days.

-end


	9. So This Is Christmas (Tomorrow's Future, Highlander only)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greer gets ready for her first Christmas alone.

*December 20, 1993*

Greer grimaced as she went by the shops. Santas and reindeer were plastered in shop windows, but you couldn't tell by the teenagers and college students still running around in shorts and tshirts. The winters in California were way too warm, and people acted like it never got cold.

They'd freeze in Alaska.

Thoughts of her home state usually cheered her up. If her parents had still been alive, she'd have handed her latest assignment safely off to his or her permanent Watcher and headed off for a birthday-and-Christmas dinner with her parents and a few beloved uncles and aunts.

But her parents were dead now, and for that matter, were not really her parents. She'd always assumed that she was their child, not only by their love, but by their genes. Yes, she'd looked a lot like them, enough that they could pass her off as their natural child. And they'd never told her the truth. Probably would have never done so, and she would have gone to her grave thinking that she was their child.

They'd lied. She was old enough to know that parents lied. Why did it bother her so much?

Maybe it was because she didn't really feel like she had a family anymore. She had aunts and uncles, true, and they'd always be dear to her, but she just didn't feel as close now. Besides, why risk letting the Watchers know where she was?

The Watchers. Her other family. The one she was close to when she was so far away from her own. The people that she'd gone to parties with, and shared tips and information and unwound with. The ones who understood her better than anyone she knew.

Now she was on the run. Far from her not-really aunts and uncles, under the nose of her other family, and without a chance of being with someone she'd considered making a family with.

Michael. They'd made plans, way back when, to go to Fairbanks this year and celebrate with her aunts and uncles. No chance now. When she'd broken with the Watchers, she'd left Michael behind. After all, it was extremely rare for a Watcher to marry an Immortal, and that was only to keep tabs on them. How could he possibly keep tabs on her, since she knew what he was?

And now she was alone, walking the streets of a small, nameless university town three days before her birthday, five days before Christmas. Nearly thirty years old, not that it mattered. She was the same as she was a month ago. She'd be the same for as long as she lived. Hopefully it wouldn't be that long.

She was not home. She would never be home. She had no home. Only the road and places where she could blend in and pretend that she belonged. At least most of the time.

But not this season. Not near Christmas. Not ever.


	10. Reaching for Normalcy (Highlander/The Tomorrow People)

She sat in the office, nervously awaiting her interviewer.

He was late. They'd given her the time and place, told her to come. And now her interviewer were late. Or maybe he was late on purpose. Maybe they were observing her, even now.

She couldn't do much more than sit there with her hands folded and try not to shake. Lisa knew it was a miracle she had gotten this far. Maybe Michael's contact had managed to cover up that little problem with the talent show. He had promised to make her background seem as normal as possible. She had agreed. She still wished she was normal, but she was sure she would never be.

Lisa still heard the others' voices in her head. The telepathy was a headache. She had to ignore everyone, banish their voices as best she could, with the knowledge that they were always there.

How did you break away from a group that you can never really leave? Her heart had broken when she'd stopped hanging around the rest of them. Every time her control broke down a little, she would hear them again, and it hurt to not respond, to talk to the only people who could understand her troubles. But she had made her choice.

Being different had hurt her even more. She hadn't asked for her abilities, hadn't asked for rogue government agents to try to kidnap her mother. She'd never stood out in a crowd. She didn't want to. Yes, being able to teleport was nothing short of a miracle, but her miracle had come with a price. Knowing people would use her if they knew what she was. So she had to become normal.

Which, of course, is why she was joining the Watchers. Greer and Michael had told her their own adventures with the Watchers, what she might expect in joining, and what her life might be like. She could handle the secrecy. After all, hiding one's affiliation with a secret society was *nothing* compared to hiding the fact that she was a Tomorrow Person.

The best thing was, she'd have support. People who understood the hardships of hiding what one really was. Not that she could tell them that she was hiding from them, too. But that was the price of being normal.

Lisa knew the others didn't understand. Megabyte and Kevin were too dazzled about their abilities. Adam knew the value of hiding their differences from normal people, but he also tended to rely on his powers so much that he could never let them go.

But she could. She would.

And this was the first step.

She looked up as her interviewer entered.

-end


	11. Privacy Concerns (Highlander)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a historical note, this was right after Princess Diana died.

*August 31, 1997*

Greer woke up when she rolled over and found the other half of the bed empty. Opening her eyes, she found that it was only seven-thirty in the morning. She sat up, hoping that Michael was only off to the bathroom and not kidnapped. For once, she wished she and her husband were telepathic so that she could find out if he was okay without alerting any possible intruders. She hadn't sensed any immortals, but that didn't mean anything. The television was on, she could hear that. She caught something about Princess Diana, but that was it.

Michael came through the door with a mug of coffee. Greer's stomach growled at the scent. He didn't look otherwise very awake. She wondered what was up. "Michael, what's going on?"

"I didn't mean to wake you up," Michael said. "I'm going to church. Mrs. MacDonald from downstairs is going to drive me."

Greer looked at her husband. He seemed pale and his hands were shaking a bit. Something had to have happened for him to be up and in his Sunday best. It was also the one Sunday a month that they didn't go to church, due to her having to work at eleven. "What happened?" she asked gently.

"Princess Diana is dead," Michael replied after a moment. "It was just on the news. She was killed early this morning when her driver crashed into a wall trying to get away from those photographers."

"Oh,my..." Greer replied, but was unable to finish her sentence as Michael continued.

"I'm told that they're holding some of those vultures. Good. They deserve anything thrown at them."

Greer was startled by the venom in her husband's voice. "Michael, this isn't like you," she said.

"You never met her, did you?" Michael asked. "I did. She was probably the best woman I ever met. Excluding you. Those bastards chased her around. No wonder her car crashed."

"You never told me about meeting her," Greer said softly. She thought it best to draw her husband out for a bit. Wouldn't do him any good to be brought up on assault charges.

Michael blinked. "I never did? I guess I didn't. A couple of years back, I was doing a bit of field work, volunteering at an AIDS charity. Diana visited us as part of her interest in our kind of charity. She made a point of saying hello to all the volunteers. You don't know what kind of effect that has on a person. It's not every day that you get a celebrity that actually cares. It meant a lot to me and the others. We actually worked more so that she'd be proud of us. That was a very painful assignment to walk away from."

"I could see why," Greer said.

"I just can't understand why they'd follow her around, record every love affair, every person she meets. She has her right to privacy."

Greer started laughing. Michael glared at her.

"What are you laughing at? It's a tragedy!"

"It's not anything about Diana, not really, it's just that what you said about following people around and right to privacy. Michael, what do you think we *did* for years of our lives? Me especially? We followed people around, we recorded their love affairs, and so on. It never seemed to bother you."

Michael blinked. "You're right," he said, almost reluctantly. "But it's not the same. We aren't intrusive."

"You mean that we tried* not to be intrusive," Greer argued. "No, we didn't crowd around, and we tried not to get noticed. But does it really matter how unobtrusive we were?"

"We weren't trying for sensational pictures or headlines," Michael argued back. "We didn't have fast scooters that could do high speeds, or camera lenses the length of an arm."

"I know," Greer replied, getting up to lean against the wall by her husband. "But maybe it feels the same way. How do you think I feel? I know that I'm being followed and sometimes I even see my Watcher. I've even seen him with a camera once or twice. How does that make me feel?"

"I guess you have a point," Michael said reluctantly. "But if you took off, he wouldn't jump on a motorscooter and chase after you with a camera."

"No, he wouldn't. But can't you see that the idea is the same? That for some reason, because we're deemed special, that we have no privacy anymore? Even if the Watchers are discreet, we're still there. Is that right to record greater than my right to not have my life recorded? That's the problem."

Michael was quiet for a few moments. "I don't know. I guess I've never been really on that end."

"I can feel a sympathy for her, just by what I've been through. I've been on both ends, Michael, and I can safely say that I don't like this end. I can't imagine she liked it much, either."

There was a knock on the door. "That would be Mrs. MacDonald," Michael said.

Greer felt almost regretful that their conversation was over. "See if you can delay her a moment or two."

"Why?" Michael asked.

"I need to go, too," Greer said. "I need to pray for her."

-End


	12. Phone Calls (Highlander)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set during "With Human Blood and Human Tears".

The phone rang. That wasn't unusual, but it was long before opening hours at Joe's.

Joe walked from the stage, where he'd been working on one of the lights, to the phone at the bar, cursing every ring. Whoever it was, he hoped would stay on long enough for him to answer the phone.

He picked it up, ready to yell at the person at the other end. "You better have a damned good reason," he grumbled to the caller. "Hello?"

"Joe? Is this Joe Dawson?"

The connection was crummy. Either he needed the phone line looked at or his caller needed theirs checked. "Who is this? I can barely hear you."

"This is Greer Lewis," the caller responded, and Joe finally recognized the voice. "Sorry if the line's bad..."

"It's okay, I can hear you enough," Joe said quickly. After all, he hadn't heard from her in four years. At least she was still alive.

He'd always felt sympathetic for Greer, a lot of Watchers had. She'd been a hard worker in the field, and when she discovered she was Immortal, she'd left. A lot of people had admired her for that. Immortals didn't belong in the Watchers, most thought. Good thing they didn't know about Methos. They'd have fits, and he didn't need them to have fits at the moment. Not that it wasn't common sense to leave the Immortals out. After all, they weren't supposed to even *know* about the Watchers, much less be joining them. They had started going through the recruiting procedures with a fine-toothed comb after Greer had left. They didn't need any more Immortals-to-be in the Organization. Greer had been a mistake.

He wondered why she was calling. While her departure from Seattle had been amiable enough, she had been rather annoyed at both the Watchers and her fellow Immortals. Nobody blamed her. Joe tried to imagine what it would be like to spend years with the Organization and then find out that one was destined to be an Immortal.

"Joe?"

"Sorry. As I said, I can barely hear you," Joe said, covering for his musings.

"I asked if you were okay?"

"Oh, yes. I've been through some rough spots, but I'll be all right."

He heard her laugh. She'd almost never laughed on her last visit to Seattle. "Watching can be like that, can't it?"

"You have no idea," Joe replied. Greer probably had no idea of the upheavals that had occurred in the past few years. "Is something wrong?"

Greer sounded sober. "Not with me. Joe, I need a favor from you."

Joe nodded. "Are you hunting? Or being hunted?" he asked. He'd have to turn her down gently if that was the case. He was well aware of the dim view that many took of him.

"No, I'm not hunting, or being hunted, as far as I know," Greer replied. "I have to find a Watcher, a friend of mine. It's urgent."

"I could try," Joe said. It wasn't a request that he would have had to respond to, but this was Greer, who had no doubt lost track of most of her former compatriots. He sighed with relief. He could probably fulfil this request with only a minor bending of his vows. "Who, and why?"

"Her name's Lisa. Lisa Davis. She's a friend of mine, I kind of lost track of her when she joined about three years ago. There's a mutual friend of ours that's in trouble, and I need her to talk to him."

Joe nodded. It was, indeed, a reasonable request. "I'll find her, but I'll have to call her instead of giving you her number. You want me to give her your phone number?"

"No, just tell her that I was looking for her, and that a mutual friend is in trouble."

"I will," Joe said. He wondered who the friend was. He then wondered if Greer had gotten the young woman in the Watchers in the first place. It would be her style. And it would be someone to replace her. "You owe me one."

Greer chuckled. "Indeed, I do."

"Where are you, nowadays?" Joe could probably look it up, but he wanted to talk to her a little bit. Who knew how long before he got to talk to her again.

"Getting lazy, are you? London. England. I've nearly got citizenship."

Joe whistled. "You're calling me from *London*?" he asked. That explained the quality of the phone line.

"Joe, where *else* would I be calling from?" Greer asked. "This is home now."

Joe grinned. "Yeah. Maybe I'll drop by for a visit when I'm in Paris."

"Who knows? I might be in," Greer replied. "But, thanks again, Joe."

"You're welcome," Joe replied.

The phone clicked on the other end. Joe sighed. There was a young woman to find and to call. With luck, he'd find her soon.

And then maybe he'd find Greer's number. For next time he was in Paris.

It would be worth the call.


	13. Que Sera (Highlander)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, it's a (very old) songfic. Lyrics (and song title) by Ace of Base. Haven't looked at it for years.

/They call to her from across the street  
But they don't know her name/

Georgina Lewis shrugged as she hurried down the street. She liked London, enjoyed the anonymity of being one face in a busy city. As long as she didn't speak, she was part of the crowd.

Just a moment ago, she had felt another of her kind. The characteristic sensation had gone through her, chilling her in the seventy degree weather that was considered warm there. She caught sight of the other Immortal, who had stared at her for a moment, and then immediately gone in the opposite direction. Like her, he had not wanted a fight.

She didn't know who he was, and she would bet he hadn't the slightest idea about her, either.

/She's in the wrong place at the wrong time  
Who's to blame/

Although she knew that there were Immortals who were like her and didn't like to fight, every time she encountered another Immortal, she was afraid. Deathly afraid. She barely knew how to fight, and she wasn't likely to in future hanging around Adam.

Her Adam, that was. Not that she was overly worried about the Immortal named Adam that she recently encountered. He wasn't much of a fighter. More a historian, like herself. But she still wished she hadn't encountered him, hadn't insisted on keeping an eye on her husband.

But she had. Just like every other time she'd encountered another Immortal. And it wasn't going to change, and it wasn't going to get any easier.

/She wonders how to change  
the life she's living  
She wonders if she'll ever get away/

It hadn't been easy from the moment she woke up in the warehouse. After Alberta had explained her new life to her, she'd been close to despair. To become the Watched, instead of the Watcher, to constantly live a fiction. At least she was in her first life and she didn't have to change her name yet. Maybe somewhere, there was a way to become mortal, to not be stuck fighting for your life with a sword.

She'd seen that there was a way to not wage wars. Adam and his kind would see that the world would be peaceful. How she envied their ability to just pop away from danger, to not worry about killing. Of course, associating with them was a heavy thing. Adam kept her much to the standards of his own kind, hoping against hope that she'd become another Darius. But that was not the way she chose to live.

She wished things were easier.

/As far as I can see, the writing's on the wall  
There's no return, we live, we learn,  
The game goes on and on/

But she couldn't live her life just hoping that she would escape, somehow, from her cursed Immortality. She had a new perspective. She had a new life. She would probably never gone to London, met Adam and his friends, if she had not been what she was. She'd taken a head, which meant she was a player in the Game. How long she lived was up to her.

And there was absolutely nothing Adam could do about it.

/Que sera  
I like you but I don't  
really want to take you home/

And there was nothing he could do about the danger, either. Friends and lovers of Immortals were constantly at risk in the Game. She'd warned him, she'd warned all of them about the dangers that everyone close to an Immortal faced. Maybe they took their cue from Michael. Foolish man, he'd married her despite having a decade's knowledge of what happened to those who loved Immortals. At least Adam and company had an excuse. No one could easily hold one of them without them popping off.

She'd always wondered why mortals stuck around Immortals. Now, she would never know.

/Que sera  
It's a lonely life  
Living on my own/

Every Immortal was a loner, by chance or by circumstance. The evil ones tended to make no close friendships, the good ones tended to be loners because something always happened to their mortal friends. Immortals had to worry about mortals surviving and growing old.

She had to worry about Michael, and Adam, and the others. Michael, because he would have no natural kids with her. Adam and the others, because they would gradually be her age and older. It would feel strange to look the same age someday. And what would it feel like when Adam was a grandfather? No one would truly understand. She wasn't sure she understood now.

/Que sera  
What's it gonna be, what's it gonna be/

But she was stuck with them. They were stuck with her. Maybe Michael would understand, just living with her. Or maybe Adam or the others might get a clue. They read minds enough. If anyone would understand, they would.

/She left her home when she was seventeen  
Simply disappeared in the rain  
Those were bad times so it was high time  
She knows she'd do it again/

She'd been seventeen when she found out about the Watchers and the Immortals. One could say that it was destiny that she had walked into Antony's fight in the park. She wondered if he and his opponent had sensed her during their fight. She must have sent off signals to almost every Immortal she had Watched.

It hadn't been easy to leave home. She'd been lucky to be skipped a grade in elementary school. Otherwise, she'd been ordinary. An ordinary teenager, which meant her parents found her incomprehensible. After graduating from high school, she'd left home to be trained by the Watchers. Eventually, she had talked to them. At least she was talking to them by the time she died.

But she knew she would have gone with Helen anyway. Maybe it was destiny.

/She wonders how  
she's going to make a living  
She wonders if she'll make it through the day/

The Watchers had taught her to have a cover. She'd specialized on Sales. A well-experienced salesperson, she had enough experience to get a job wherever she ended up. But England had been different, and she'd been lucky to get a job of the same type. Besides, she was getting tired of sales. It was too close to what she did when she was with the Watchers.

Eventually, she'd have to find a new profession. Luckily she had enough time to learn one. Maybe someday she'd try an antique store. Enough Immortals ran them. Or maybe she'd try to be a nun. If they were still in existence in a couple of decades.

/As far as I can see, I've seen it all before  
A lonely girl in a big bad world  
The game goes on and on/

She had seen a lot in her thirty-four years. She knew about the Game, its infinite variations, and its participants and how they lived their lives. She would never be welcome among them, for her past, but she would have to cope. She would learn to be alone as she lived with the Game.

/Que sera  
I like you but I don't  
Really want to take you home/

She'd refused the Immortal Adam Pierson a chance to get into her life. He was an old one, a powerful one, and she shared his interest in history. Or rather, they shared an interest in history, but then, many Immortals did. But she still didn't regret her choice. Maybe someday, when he had given up deceiving the Watchers, she'd welcome him, get to know him.

There was so much she wanted to ask, and he had the potential to be the only good friend she had.

/Que sera  
It's a lonely life  
Living on my own/

But right now was not the time. She'd have to live in the mortal world, pretend to be mortal, and suffer until someone could understand her. It wasn't time, yet.

/Que sera  
What's it gonna be, what's it gonna be/

But she had her future ahead of her. Even if she had no idea what it was going to be like, she knew she'd survive it. She had so much to see, so much to do. Choices to make.

Maybe she'd live.


	14. Inspirations and Reunions (Highlander)

It had been a good evening for both of them.

Jeremy had been perfect, his choir not only singing pleasantly, but beautifully. It had meant that his good reputation would increase, and he needed that. He'd had so many ups and downs over the last few decades.

And Alberta had been glad to see him, too. Still alive, still fighting. Every so often she was afraid that he'd died, he who had pulled her out of her funk after Silas had died, been killed by Leland. They'd spent a lot of time together after that, only leaving when they got tired of each other.

She walked over to where Jeremy was. He was chatting with someone, probably a sponsor or something. She smiled graciously at the person, waited until they had left to turn her attention wholly to her companion. "So, how'd that sound, dear?" Jeremy asked.

"Perfect, as usual," Alberta answered, grinning. "Your hours of practicing paid off."

Jeremy shrugged. "I didn't mind. All of them are really nice kids, most of them can sing, and I worked hard with those who couldn't."

His eyes had wandered over to a cluster of choir members. She knew who he was looking at. "Your protege will be fine," she said. "He did well tonight."

"I worry about him," Jeremy said absently. "He's going to be one of us, you know."

Alberta nodded. She didn't sense the boy, but Jeremy had always been more sensitive to that kind of thing. "You can't protect him forever."

"I'll protect him as long as I can," Jeremy responded sternly. "Otherwise, I'll have abandoned him like- nevermind."

"Does this 'nevermind' have a name?" Alberta asked.

The corners of his mouth quirked up in a wry grin. "Yeah, she does. You remember that I got back into being in choirs a decade or so ago? It was thanks to someone very like Anthony. A girl, in fact. She was a runaway, and for some reason she was singing a hymn on the street near where I'd gotten drunk. I could tell she was going to be one of us. I got her on a bus, sent her back home. Had bad luck the very next day, had to change my identity, and lost complete track of her."

"And you're not going to lose this one," Alberta said softly. "I suppose if something happens to you I'm supposed to take care of this one, too?"

"I'd be very grateful," he responded. "You haven't had a student in several years. What was the last one? Greer?"

"Yes, Greer," Alberta said, trying not to wince whenever she thought about the poor girl. She shouldn't have pushed her away like that. She should have stayed until Greer came back to learn. It wasn't Greer's fault that her former occupation was one that most Immortals felt was abhorrent.

Probably noticing her distress, Jeremy changed the subject. "I want to keep an eye on him. There was another one of us in the crowd tonight. I'm hoping that whoever it is just came because a friend's child is in the choir."

"I'll help you keep an eye on him," Alberta volunteered. "To help ease your mind."

"Thanks," Jeremy said, smiling.

Someone was walking up to them. She'd thought that they were blocked off from the crowd, but oh, well. Jeremy was blinking, his jaw hanging open.

And then she turned around, and saw why. "Greer?" she managed to blurt out. Her student was standing there, looking positively shy.

Jeremy had, at that point, scraped his jaw off the floor. "Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to have run away from home in June of 1982, perchance?"

Greer grinned. "Yes, that was me. Thank you for the bus change, by the way. I never got into choir, but at least I got home."

"Good. I was hoping that you hadn't died yet, but at least you're still alive."

"Alberta is a good teacher," Greer responded. Alberta personally thought she hadn't been, but obviously if Greer was still alive, she wasn't going to argue.

"I see," Jeremy said.

"I wanted to thank you, too," Greer told him. "There's a friend of mine going through some rough spots in their life, and being in the choir helped. The performance was beautiful, by the way."

"Thank you," Jeremy managed. Alberta suppressed a grin. She knew how much Greer had meant to him. To see his inspiration alive meant much to him, she knew. Jeremy had always wanted to take Greer's kind in. "Since your friend is in the choir, I assume I'll be seeing more of you?" he asked. At Greer's nod, he continued. "Then I'll leave you two to reacquaint yourselves. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about, and I must get some words in with a few people."

Jeremy departed. Alberta knew that it was because, no matter what, it was a bit painful to know that someone else had found one of his 'kids' and trained them. "Did I offend him in some way?" Greer asked.

"No, when he said he wanted us to get reacquainted, he meant it."

"I know.... Well, I suppose it doesn't matter what I know, anymore, really."

Alberta gave Greer points for avoiding talking about her Watcher past. It had been a very touchy subject when she was training Greer, and still unnerved her now. "How have you been?"

Greer shrugged. "Okay. Moved around a bit to lose a couple of people, met Michael again, moved up here. Found a lot of new friends and a new purpose in life."

"Michael?" Alberta asked. Then she remembered. "The man that you were dating when I met you?"

Her companion grinned. "Yes, *that* Michael. He retired, and we're married now. Didn't take his surname, though, so I'm still Georgina Lewis."

Alberta shook her head. Only Greer would do something like that. It was her choice, though. "Have you gotten in many fights?"

"One or two, not more than that," Greer's expression turned serious. "I've never been a fighter. I try to avoid them. But when I've fought, I've done fairly well. You were a good teacher."

"You didn't learn half the stuff I was supposed to teach you," Alberta said sadly.

"You were scared. I don't blame you," Greer said. "I don't hang with our kind a lot because I know that they'll get upset. There's no way to erase my past, and I'm not ashamed of it. But I accept that I'm always going to make our kind uncomfortable. I'll live."

But there was pain in that expression. More pain and loneliness than one Immortal could really bear. It was a kind of pain that mortals couldn't ease.

And Greer was facing it alone, when she shouldn't have to.

"Not like that, you don't," Alberta said sharply. "There are some things that we simply have to have our kind around for. Don't cut yourself off because of what you what you once did."

"I can't help it," Greer said.

Her student was going to need lots of help, and failing that, lots of love. Well, Jeremy loved her regardless, even if he hadn't the slightest idea of why Greer had been there that night. And as far as she was concerned, Greer was her student. She couldn't turn her back.

"I need to go," Greer spoke suddenly. "My group's about to leave. I need to be with them."

Actually, they probably weren't leaving yet, but Alberta let it go. "Just remember, we're here. You know how to get in touch with Jeremy, or at least your friend does. Don't be afraid to be around us."

Greer didn't look like she really wanted to do that, but she nodded before she disappeared. Alberta hoped that she would come back.

She went off to find Jeremy, to talk to him about Greer.

-end


End file.
